Archive for September 2014
- In: Children | Play | Playgrounds
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I am continuously (and pleasantly I must say!) surprised by new playgrounds and play areas. Some of them are so imaginative and fun they are almost more than just a playground. This is great for inspiring and encouraging kids to use their imagination whilst playing. Along with the benefits that exercising and using and developing a lot of their skills such as balance and coordination. Any playground equipment which encourages unstructured play is fantastic, after all, playing is learning and the more there is around to simulate that the better. I’m a big fan of natural looking playgrounds, ones that cut out much of the metal and fencing and instead include timber, little hilly mounds, logs and big smooth boulders to play on. I think overall they give children a much more freeing experience, not feeling as though they are in playground environment but rather out in the wilderness exploring.
I understand that they can’t be quite as impressive and state of the art as the ones below but I think they are great!
The more creative the playground equipment is, the more creative it makes the child!
My son is thankfully interested in learning all there is to know about everything and appears to have developed his own set of learning objectives that he works on at home. I once mentioned that I had been a teacher so now he sees me as a very useful resource in his pursuit of knowledge. I thoroughly enjoy the process of being a hippy teacher at home using everything as a learning opportunity in spontaneous and completely informal ways – the school can do the boring bits.
Leading up to Alistair’s birthday in May we were unsure of the best present to buy for him because quite often they just end up abandoned and forgotten all over the house. I found this article by Playdale Garden about gardening with your children which gave me the idea to buy a selection of gardening tools so he could do gardening whenever he liked. The local garden centre didn’t have children’s versions of tools so he has trowels, forks, etc that will last him for ever.
I am very good at delegating when it comes to Alistair’s home education and never resent anyone for showing him how to do new things. One of the best bit of delegating is related to gardening as Alistair’s granddad is a very keen gardener and frequently likes to share his pearls of green fingered wisdom with everyone. So armed with tomato seeds and sunflower seeds my son learnt how to make things grow.!
It is now the end of the season and we have had a continuous supply of juicy tomatoes and three successful sunflowers smiled down at us throughout the summer. I wonder what delights he will grow next year.
Have The Early Learning Goals Made It impossible For Our Children To Take Risks?
Posted September 23, 2014
on:When I was about two years old a man told my grandmother that I would make a good rugby player – when she informed him that I was actually a girl he just said, ‘Pity help you then’. I proceeded to be a pretty fearless person who was quite prepared to risk physical injury to do what I wanted, in fact I have broken my nose so many times that it has actually become straight again. I managed to avoid any serious injury but did sprain my wrist while putting the breaks on when I went over a ramp – I never did that again. When I was a child I used to love climbing trees and getting into territorial battles with other groups of children relating to the ownership of our den. In fact we were definitely more, ‘Lord of the Flies’, than Cbeebies.
As a young adult I have tried climbing, abseiling, caving, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing and many other activities that involve a calculated risk. I always considered bruises to be a sign of being adventurous and had no hesitation in showing off amazing purple patches on my legs and arms to show how courageous I had been. However since having my son I get really bothered if he has bruises or evidence of risk taking on his body for fear that it looks like I haven’t been looking after him properly. Even my own mother worries about him hurting himself in a way she didn’t when I was a child. My son doesn’t seem to have inherited my fearless genes and tends to consider the consequences of every action meaning that he always takes calculated risks. I am having to quash my protective instinct and actively allow him to get hurt and scared in playgrounds and in the countryside so that he can learn from his own mistakes.
The Early Years is the most important time in a child’s initial development and although the government has being producing a nicely decorated early years curriculum apparently children are still not prepared for school at five years old. This is after they have spent a year in nursery and a year at school, does this indicate that the educational environment is not conducive with the way a child develops? Maybe children really can’t learn in a mass production environment after all. The Government perpetually makes staying at home to look after your own child either financially impossible or socially unacceptable. Studies are starting to show that children from deprived areas are going to underachieve in schools whether the school is graded, ‘Outstanding’, or lower. This really points to a child’s crucial learning time to take place within the home environment, the government however has made this increasingly difficult for parents who need advice and assistance by either closing or reducing the hours of Sure Start Centres that provide valuable information on how to help your children learn and develop.
Everything in life is quantifiable and graded in a way that a child can be given a grading at five years old. In order to grade a child you have to make the environment they are in clinical and organised and play becomes formal rather than spontaneous episodes of learning. No child ever learned to walk by sitting still and listening – they took risks and persevered until they achieved their goal. The only way a child can learn about their own body and world around them is by taking risks and experimenting with every aspect of their being. For many years failing was part of the learning process but now children have to achieve their goals or they have failed in some way. A school is a failure if their SATs results aren’t up to scratch but you can’t grade compassion and emotional support.
The only way we can ensure that children have the opportunity to take physical risks away from the academic intensity is by giving them the opportunities when they are at home. We all cannot afford to have a child’s climbing frame in the garden, some don’t even have a garden so it is fundamentally important that there is provision made in the form of communal playgrounds for parents to allow their children to take risks in a safe environment. Growing up is about knowing your strengths and weaknesses and being able to interact with people who are friendly and of course those who are hostile. There is nothing like a confrontation in the playground to teach you about human nature. We need to stop over protecting our children and let them learn from their own mistakes and the education system need to remind itself how we do learn in those exciting early years!
The Child’s climbing frame featured in our main picture is available from www.playdalegarden.co.uk.
Conkers Anybody?
Posted September 19, 2014
on:- In: Autumn | crafts | Parenting | Play
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On the school run this morning I realised that Autumn is here. There’s something special about a nice sunny, quiet Autumn day with a cold, crisp start to the morning and orange leaves on the ground. Just because the temperatures are dropping it doesn’t mean it’s time to come inside for the Winter. It’s great to fit in as much time outside before it gets either too rainy or too cold, which to be fair, in the UK could be anytime now.
Autumn is the time for dressing up warm and getting out into nature. Going out for a walk, jumping in the leaves, finding some conkers and then coming back for a hot drink indoors. Sounds pretty good to me. Conkers were always a big thing in Autumn when I was younger, it was the ultimate playground game with some of my peers taking it very seriously and trying out different methods to try and make their conkers superior! A row of jars filled with vinegar and conkers was a regular sight in my house, though I’m not sure it was actually proven to work! (Info on how to play conkers here if you are interested).
Chocolate truffles
Posted September 12, 2014
on:Here’s a lovely easy recipe that is perfect for kids to make, especially as it involves getting a bit messy!! My daughter and I had great fun making these one rainy afternoon during the summer holidays. They would be a perfect gift for children to make for someone special.
Ingredients:
For approximately 24 truffles you will need the following ingredients.
- 150ml double cream.
- 15g unsalted butter.
- 300g chocolate – you can use white, milk or dark chocolate or even try a flavoured one, such as orange. Make sure you use good quality chocolate not cake topping or one with a low cocoa content.
- Decorations of your choice. We used sifted cocoa powder, crumbled flake bars and sugar sprinkles. You could also use chocolate vermicelli, grated chocolate, chopped nuts, desiccated coconut or anything you fancy.
- Some sifted icing sugar to dust your hands with.
Equipment:
- A baking sheet.
- Greaseproof paper.
- A…
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