Do you actively offer free flow to outdoors?
Do you actively offer FREE FLOW access to outdoors?
What messages are we sending children regarding outdoor play and accessibility?
Are your doors to outside OPEN sending a subliminal message to children ?
Invite, entice, explore, adventure, look, discover, be curious, it’s OK, you have permission ?
Or
Are your doors firmly CLOSED
And children have to ASK if the want to go outdoors?
A CLOSED door sends a different message to children,
stop, stay inside, don’t venture any further, off limits, no access!
When a manager asks WHY is nobody outside?
An educators may say ....
“ ohhh nobody wants to go outside today, so we’ve shut the door and all came inside !”
Really ????
Or is it just that the ADULTS don’t want to go outside, so the doors get shut and everyone continues with the day indoors ?
Then an excuse gets added ...
“children know they can ask if they want to go outside, but nobody has!” A CLOSED door is a ‘conscious’ decision to SHUT off access to outside.
An OPEN door is a ‘subliminal’ message joining the outside to inside, BECKONING a child to venture beyond the boundary of the door!
A subliminal message saying YES you ARE allowed ! 🥰🙌🏼👍🏼
When doors are open & staff are already outside ready to welcome children - they will go and play !!
They WANT to get outside !
Adults are greeting them with enthusiasm and role modelling that being outdoors is the place to be! ❤️
* We understand that not all settings have the privilege of access to the garden directly off their rooms*
However, regardless of the design of buildings. Outdoor play should not be confined to 20 minutes in the morning & 20 minutes in the afternoon.
It’s about the expectations of the team and the ATTITUDE of staff to embrace outdoor play.❤️
To know that the inside and outside are one big holistic environment and shouldn’t be seen in SEPARATE isolation!
If children are bombing round inside - 9 times out of ten - they are telling us something !
So let’s stop making excuses and get outside
Be a weather warriors and prepared for the day ahead !!🙌🏼❤️🥰
NB * wet weather does NOT cause colds or FLU
Germs & viruses DO !! Children who are in a confined space with central heating & no ventilation will be MORE inclined to catching coughs colds, infections & COVID
INSIDE than they will OUTSIDE !!!
Let’s Get OUTSIDE in the fresh air & keep our children and team healthy 💖
https://www.thecuriosityapproa...
Let’s change the attitudes and culture within settings, let’s look at our habits regarding outdoor play ?
Are we constantly closing off doors & bringing children back inside or do we view the outdoors as part of our holistic environment?
“Anything you can teach in an indoor classroom can be taught outdoors, often in ways that are more enjoyable for children.” ~ Cathy James
What is this image above saying to you ?
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