What do you do when it rains

October 

Whenever we tell people about the work that we do, the first thing a lot of people say is "what do you do when it rains". October was quite a wet month but that didn't stop us from having fun.

Puddles are great for jumping in or even sitting in as you can see from the picture above. During our exploration through the park the children would run on ahead to find all the muddy puddles they could jump in. We then headed down towards the stream and we were surprised to see how deep it had gone. The week before we had measured the depth of the stream and it was just above our wellies, take a look at the video to see how much it had risen. At the beginning of every session children are asked to risk assess their play space to make sure it is safe, this kind of practice is reinforced with everything we do. We had conversations with children on the bridge about the dangers of water and how to keep themselves safe on the embankment. Things like 'why don't we run, why we don't go near to the edge, how has the rain made the mud more dangerous'. We feel if children can assess the risks for themselves, it will help them to become more aware of certain dangers which will help keep themselves safe. 

We also looked at how fast the water was flowing. When we played pooh sticks previously; it took about 10 seconds for the stick to pass under the bridge, today it only took 5. So we asked questions like 'what has happened to make it so deep' 'why is the water moving so fast' to which some of the children were able to explain that it was like that because of the rain and the rain had filled it all up and made it move faster. 

           

                                       

                                      

We also explored cause and effect with chalks. As the children were drawing on the stumps, the rain would make the colours mix together to make one colour. They would then rub their hands over the stump and observe the colour and texture on their hands. This was a great sensory activity for the children which gave us lots of opportunities for questioning and extending children's language. 

During another session we took the balance bikes out and the children rolled their bikes through the puddles instead of jumping in them. On our walk one of the children noticed an arrow on the floor, we asked him which way it pointing and to follow the direction. As we carried on along the path he also found another arrow on the tree, this then opened up an opportunity to look for arrows and signs around the park and discuss the meaning of them. As soon as we got back to camp we further extended their next steps by mapping arrows around the site using sticks. We also encouraged the children to pick out the same colour chalk and to see if they could draw their own arrows on the trees around camp. 

                      

One of the trees with the arrows on had been chopped down a very long time ago and branches had begun to grow again. We talked about whether the tree had fell down or if it had been cut down, the children were able to recognise that it was straight so maybe it had been cut. This gave Adam and I the idea of finding the Arboriculturists in the park and letting the children see this. what a stroke of luck when the week after they were cutting down a giant beech tree. 

There have been lots of opportunities to explore mathematical concepts, especially around shape space and measure. We measured the height of the children and then asked them to find sticks that were the same height as themselves. We then looked at the difference in sizes and used a range of language tenses like 'small, smaller, smallest, big, bigger, biggest, large, larger, largest' and asked the children to order the sticks into the different size orders. They then went off to play and the children carried this on by themselves. 

                                                     

         

For Literacy this month we have been reading the Gruffalo and encouraging the children to draw and write using different media. We've had the chalks accessible to write on the trees and we introduced the clip boards, card and pencils for them to be able to have more opportunities to write. 

                        

                                          

             

We continued the gruffalo by adding resources around the woods. One little boy has been searching the woods for the Owl, Fox and Snake for the past week so we arranged them in a tree for the children to find. We used the gruffalo resources to extend imaginative play, this enabled the children to play cooperatively as part of a group and be engaged on the same theme. 

 

For physical development we have been encouraging those who don't normally climb trees to use the stumps to balance and climb across. The children even helped each other to do it.

We also used the thin branches to help children develop core muscles strength by placing them up the tree and letting them slide down it like a fireman's pole. The children had to learn how to grip with their legs and hold on tight whilst gradually sliding the trunk. This has become a favourite activity for those that can do it. 

We've had another exciting month and it's been lovely to watch how the children are progressing in the setting. Parental evaluations have revealed that their children's confidence and language development is something that they have noticed a significant difference in. We have used the rain to our advantage and even Adam and myself have experienced things for the first time and shared this with the children. I know some people have concerns that their child may get colds or become ill from being out in the wet weather, this is not true, colds are passed on from viruses that are spread indoors from person to person. Being outside does in-fact minimise the chances of getting ill. Parents are given a kit list and children come dressed appropriately for the weather. 

"Nature to Nurture nursery is absolutely fantastic! Having had high expectations after attending forest school sessions prior to the nursery opening, the nursery has far exceeded even those expectations. Julie and Adam provide a very creative, educational but most importantly nurturing learning experience. Cannot praise you guys enough, you are amazing". Parent