A little while ago, Independent Childminders Facebook group members contributed to an ‘Outside Maths' thread. I added some of my own ideas and have turned it into a useful download to support CPD.
We are seeing a few Ofsted inspection reports which comment that childminders do not plan enough maths activities outside. While Ofsted refuse to clarify what ‘enough’ means we will always be fighting an uphill battle, but I thought it might be worthwhile pulling together a few ideas.
Maths includes – number, shape, space, measure, time, capacity, speed, counting, money, weight, pattern, reasoning, symmetry, length, estimating, perspective, angles, pairs, fractions, direction, opposites, problem solving, making comparisons, direction…
Let’s think about some of our planned activities and think about some of the ways they support children to develop an awareness of maths through play…
• Active play – counting footsteps, distance language, sharing space;
• Art and artists – Kandinsky paintings = shape; distance and perspective;
• Balls / bean bags – counting and number, distance, speed, direction;
• Bikes – speed, direction, angles, problem solving;
• Blocks – shape, weight, measure, estimating, space, counting;
• Butterfly painting – symmetry;
• Calendar – time;
• Cars – make big numbers and draw roads on them – shape, distance, speed, direction;
• Chalk to draw round things – shape, size, measure, pattern, symmetry;
• Clock on the wall – time;
• Collections of natural materials eg twigs, leaves, fir cones, coconut shells, stones, acorns and conkers – shape, size, counting, lining up by size, opposites;
• Dinosaurs in the messy tray – sorting, size, shape, lining up;
• Den building – shape, size, angle, length, problem solving;
• Fishing game with magnets and water – counting, sorting, shape, size, weight;
• Floating experiments in the water tray – weight, capacity, shape, size; good book ‘who sank the boat?’ by Pamela Allen;
• Flowers / herbs – shape, size, time;
• Foot / wellie / shoe / leaf prints – size, shape, counting, symmetry;
• Growing flowers – measure, time;
• Guessing games – estimating, problem solving;
• Hopscotch – counting;
• Numbers on the fence eg house or bin numbers – numbers, counting, shape;
• Leaves – symmetry, shape, size, pairs, opposites, capacity; threading leaves – shape, size, counting;
• Making puddles – size, shape, capacity, shapes;
• Maps – distance, speed, measure, perspective;
• Mazes (cars, children) – direction, speed, time;
• Minibeasts – size, shape, number, counting;
• Musical instruments – counting beats;
• Notebook and pencil / clipboard – counting, writing numbers;
• Number line – counting, sorting;
• Pebbles with numbers / shapes – varnish for longer life – number, sorting;
• Oats and water – predicting, capacity, size;
• Obstacle course – distance, direction, number, counting;
• Photographs – distance, angle, problem solving;
• Potion making – capacity, measure, counting;
• Pots, spoons and measuring jugs in water and sand play – weight, capacity, size, fractions, estimating, pairs;
• Questions – keep your questions open so children are encouraged to think, try, guess, estimate, suggest, solving problems etc. Ask ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions and take an interest in what children are doing rather than turning fun activities into an inquisition. Children are more likely to share what they know if they are relaxed and playing;
• Rain water – capacity, weight, measure;
• Ride on toys and numbered parking bays – number, direction, speed;
• Shopping role play – money, size, estimating, capacity (putting shopping in bags);
• Rubbings – pattern, shape, size, symmetry;
• Sand – writing numbers, shape moulds, pattern;
• Scales – weigh natural materials – weight, measure, making comparisons;
• Shells – grading, sorting, shape, size;
• Skipping – counting, speed, use of space;
• Skittles – direction, speed, counting, weight;
• Songs and rhymes – shape, counting, number;
• Stepping stones – counting, distance;
• Sticks – shape, size, length, angles, number shapes, measure;
• Stones – weight, size, shape, counting; numbered stones can be used for sorting;
• Sunshine and shadows – shape, symmetry, time;
• Tea parties – fractions, shape, number, counting;
• Treasure hunt – counting, distance, opposites, problem solving;
• Tubes for rolling cars down – distance, speed, angle, distance;
• Water play – capacity, weight, problem solving, opposites, estimating;
• Wet and dry sand – weight, problem solving, making comparisons, pattern;
• Windmills / kites – direction, speed.
Ofsted are making a lot of comments in inspections about using natural resources. Go for a walk with the children and collect natural resources to use for experiments – use magnifying glasses to explore them carefully. Think about how you can use the resources for maths activities.
I hope you find the ideas useful. Sarah x
Showing posts with label outside play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outside play. Show all posts
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Thursday, 22 August 2013
Daily outside play and childminders
Do you take the children outside every day, whatever the weather - or do you say you offer every child the opportunity to go outside and then let the children make a decision based on how they are feeling during the day?
There is absolutely no expectation for childminders to keep their doors open throughout the day - in fact, if you think about it, free flow play when an adult is not always outside with the children might not be safe. It can also be very difficult to ensure educational outcomes for children if they are playing outside without adult supervision - so many childminders have a ‘one out, all out’ policy.
This can make things difficult again because some children might not want to go outside at the same time as others - so it is important to find a balance that works for you. Most childminders find that a daily ‘outside after nap time’ or ‘outside after morning snack’ expectation will usually motivate the children to see what is happening in the garden, especially if there are toys and games outside that they enjoy using.
Parents need to provide appropriate clothes of course and this can be a battle for some childminders. It can be helpful to keep old clothes and wellies for children to wear during outside play - it doesn’t matter if they get wet and dirty if they are old and children’s clothes will be protected. We always ask that children come dressed in play clothes and keep a set here in case they wanted to wear their best fairy dress or Superman costume to show us.
Before any outside planning is done, you should complete your risk assessment to take account of, for example -
• The play areas
• The flooring surfaces
• Standing water
• Trees, bushes and plants
• Toys and games
• The shed and other storage
• Weather conditions
• Children’s illnesses
• Clothing available
• Drink provision
• Fence and gate security
• Age and stage of development of each child - what does each child in the provision need in place to enable them to play safely outside?
Once you have the basics in place - a commitment to go outside, a risk assessment and appropriate clothing the next step is to think about what each child enjoys doing at the moment.
Planning outside play
The best and most important planning you will do in your provision is individual, based on each child’s likes, dislikes and current interests. This planning, often called ‘next steps’ will normally be in writing, but you do not need to write reams of information - a quick overview will be enough.
- Jane likes birds - so you put some binoculars and a bird spotting sheet outside for her
- Jack enjoys digging - you will set up the digging tools for him
- John loves doing rubbings - provide him with paper and rubbing crayons outside and show him how to rub the trees, leaves, floor, walls etc.
Alongside your individual planning, you will have some group planning / activity ideas for all the children. These will be based around your continuous provision resources - the toys and games you always have available for all the children to use. Of course, the children do not need everything out at once!
You might plan different experiences for them through the week, for example -
Creative experiences - July - week 1
• Monday - singing outside songs
• Tuesday - decorating CDs for a display
• Wednesday - drawing butterflies
• Thursday - dancing
• Friday - painting
Physical experiences - July - week 1
• Monday - bikes
• Tuesday - bats and balls
• Wednesday - obstacle course
• Thursday - hopscotch
• Friday - balancing beams
Outside play allows children to experience the weather and the changing seasons, so when you are planning the first thing to do is look outside...
• Wind - flying kites, running like the wind, making windmills; reading ‘The Windy Day’ by Anna Milbourne and learning the poem ‘The north wind doth blow’;
• Rain - catching raindrops, counting rain, making rain pictures in puddles; reading ‘Splosh’ by Mick Inkpen and acting out songs such as ‘Rain, rain go away’ and ‘Doctor Foster’;
• Sun - making sunshines with yellow paint, drying dolls clothes, watching water disappear; singing ‘The sun has got his hat on’ and other sunny day songs;
• Fog - making foggy day pictures, watching your breath, playing hide and seek;
• Cold - playing with ice in warm water, exercises and dance to keep warm;
• Snow - catching snowflakes and bubbles, cutting snowflakes out of circles of paper, reading ‘The Snowy Day’ by Anna Milbourne.
For more information about outside play planning, please see e-book 6 from Knutsford Childminding.
There is absolutely no expectation for childminders to keep their doors open throughout the day - in fact, if you think about it, free flow play when an adult is not always outside with the children might not be safe. It can also be very difficult to ensure educational outcomes for children if they are playing outside without adult supervision - so many childminders have a ‘one out, all out’ policy.
This can make things difficult again because some children might not want to go outside at the same time as others - so it is important to find a balance that works for you. Most childminders find that a daily ‘outside after nap time’ or ‘outside after morning snack’ expectation will usually motivate the children to see what is happening in the garden, especially if there are toys and games outside that they enjoy using.
Parents need to provide appropriate clothes of course and this can be a battle for some childminders. It can be helpful to keep old clothes and wellies for children to wear during outside play - it doesn’t matter if they get wet and dirty if they are old and children’s clothes will be protected. We always ask that children come dressed in play clothes and keep a set here in case they wanted to wear their best fairy dress or Superman costume to show us.
Before any outside planning is done, you should complete your risk assessment to take account of, for example -
• The play areas
• The flooring surfaces
• Standing water
• Trees, bushes and plants
• Toys and games
• The shed and other storage
• Weather conditions
• Children’s illnesses
• Clothing available
• Drink provision
• Fence and gate security
• Age and stage of development of each child - what does each child in the provision need in place to enable them to play safely outside?
Once you have the basics in place - a commitment to go outside, a risk assessment and appropriate clothing the next step is to think about what each child enjoys doing at the moment.
Planning outside play
The best and most important planning you will do in your provision is individual, based on each child’s likes, dislikes and current interests. This planning, often called ‘next steps’ will normally be in writing, but you do not need to write reams of information - a quick overview will be enough.
- Jane likes birds - so you put some binoculars and a bird spotting sheet outside for her
- Jack enjoys digging - you will set up the digging tools for him
- John loves doing rubbings - provide him with paper and rubbing crayons outside and show him how to rub the trees, leaves, floor, walls etc.
Alongside your individual planning, you will have some group planning / activity ideas for all the children. These will be based around your continuous provision resources - the toys and games you always have available for all the children to use. Of course, the children do not need everything out at once!
You might plan different experiences for them through the week, for example -
Creative experiences - July - week 1
• Monday - singing outside songs
• Tuesday - decorating CDs for a display
• Wednesday - drawing butterflies
• Thursday - dancing
• Friday - painting
Physical experiences - July - week 1
• Monday - bikes
• Tuesday - bats and balls
• Wednesday - obstacle course
• Thursday - hopscotch
• Friday - balancing beams
Outside play allows children to experience the weather and the changing seasons, so when you are planning the first thing to do is look outside...
• Wind - flying kites, running like the wind, making windmills; reading ‘The Windy Day’ by Anna Milbourne and learning the poem ‘The north wind doth blow’;
• Rain - catching raindrops, counting rain, making rain pictures in puddles; reading ‘Splosh’ by Mick Inkpen and acting out songs such as ‘Rain, rain go away’ and ‘Doctor Foster’;
• Sun - making sunshines with yellow paint, drying dolls clothes, watching water disappear; singing ‘The sun has got his hat on’ and other sunny day songs;
• Fog - making foggy day pictures, watching your breath, playing hide and seek;
• Cold - playing with ice in warm water, exercises and dance to keep warm;
• Snow - catching snowflakes and bubbles, cutting snowflakes out of circles of paper, reading ‘The Snowy Day’ by Anna Milbourne.
For more information about outside play planning, please see e-book 6 from Knutsford Childminding.
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Children and Physical Activity
The Government has released new advice (June 2011) for increasing young children’s physical activity levels.
Babies and non-walking children
Encourage physical activity from birth, ensuring babies are not restricted by clothing or with straps.
Use resources and activities such as...
• Going swimming;
• Play arches to kick and hit;
• Play mats;
• Tummy time every day;
• Copying actions such as clapping hands;
• Space to roll and learn to crawl;
• Opportunities to pull up on furniture;
• Toys just out of reach to stretch out towards... etc.
When not asleep, eating or for short periods in the buggy or car seat babies should be unrestrained and encouraged to move around.
Young children (EYFS age)
Once children are capable of walking they should be encouraged to walk and move around for a minimum of 3 hours a day, spread out through the day. Time spent sitting (watching television, in a buggy or car seat etc) should be minimised.
Resources and activities should encourage active movement (not just gentle walking) and can be both adult planned and child initiated such as...
• Swimming with family or taking lessons;
• Dancing to music and joining in movement activities with songs and rhymes;
• Learning to skip, jump, gallop, hop etc in a large open space;
• Balls and bean bags for kicking, throwing and catching;
• Using hopscotch mats;
• Independently washing themselves, drying after a bath, getting dressed etc;
• Visiting the park to climb, swing, chase and run around;
• Biking or taking a scooter around the local area to post a letter or visit the shop;
• Active playing in the garden, running, climbing, jumping building dens... etc.
The most important thing for this age group is that they are moving around... as long as their environments are safe, healthy, fun, challenging, stimulating etc then they need to be have the freedom to be active.
Young children should move around more and time spent watching television, sitting in a buggy or car seat and using a computer should be limited.
Children from age 5
All children should have the opportunity to move around from 50 minutes to several hours a day.
Activity should be vigorous and physical to strengthen muscles and support strong bone development. This does not include normal walking around the house or school runs which is classed as light activity – it means something more active.
Resources and activities include all of the above plus...
• Adult led games to promote movement;
• Ball control activities;
• Running around the garden or park;
• Dance or gymnastics;
• Weekend walking activities;
• Tennis, badminton and similar games;
• Using large apparatus at school or clubs... etc.
Time spent sitting should be minimised.
Physically disabled children
I cannot find information in the report relating to activity levels and physical disability. However from experience I know that physically disabled children are more likely to gain weight than their non disabled peers so I would say best advice is to work with the child’s parents to find ways of exercising the child’s gross and fine motor muscles to promote good health.
I have a number of e-books which promote healthy living including...
E-book 6 - Outside Play £4.99
E-book 21 - Healthy Eating £3.99
E-book 31 - Outside all year round £3.99
All my e-books are available on my website - www.knutsfordchildminding.co.uk
More information about the Government report is available from - http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_127931
Babies and non-walking children
Encourage physical activity from birth, ensuring babies are not restricted by clothing or with straps.
Use resources and activities such as...
• Going swimming;
• Play arches to kick and hit;
• Play mats;
• Tummy time every day;
• Copying actions such as clapping hands;
• Space to roll and learn to crawl;
• Opportunities to pull up on furniture;
• Toys just out of reach to stretch out towards... etc.
When not asleep, eating or for short periods in the buggy or car seat babies should be unrestrained and encouraged to move around.
Young children (EYFS age)
Once children are capable of walking they should be encouraged to walk and move around for a minimum of 3 hours a day, spread out through the day. Time spent sitting (watching television, in a buggy or car seat etc) should be minimised.
Resources and activities should encourage active movement (not just gentle walking) and can be both adult planned and child initiated such as...
• Swimming with family or taking lessons;
• Dancing to music and joining in movement activities with songs and rhymes;
• Learning to skip, jump, gallop, hop etc in a large open space;
• Balls and bean bags for kicking, throwing and catching;
• Using hopscotch mats;
• Independently washing themselves, drying after a bath, getting dressed etc;
• Visiting the park to climb, swing, chase and run around;
• Biking or taking a scooter around the local area to post a letter or visit the shop;
• Active playing in the garden, running, climbing, jumping building dens... etc.
The most important thing for this age group is that they are moving around... as long as their environments are safe, healthy, fun, challenging, stimulating etc then they need to be have the freedom to be active.
Young children should move around more and time spent watching television, sitting in a buggy or car seat and using a computer should be limited.
Children from age 5
All children should have the opportunity to move around from 50 minutes to several hours a day.
Activity should be vigorous and physical to strengthen muscles and support strong bone development. This does not include normal walking around the house or school runs which is classed as light activity – it means something more active.
Resources and activities include all of the above plus...
• Adult led games to promote movement;
• Ball control activities;
• Running around the garden or park;
• Dance or gymnastics;
• Weekend walking activities;
• Tennis, badminton and similar games;
• Using large apparatus at school or clubs... etc.
Time spent sitting should be minimised.
Physically disabled children
I cannot find information in the report relating to activity levels and physical disability. However from experience I know that physically disabled children are more likely to gain weight than their non disabled peers so I would say best advice is to work with the child’s parents to find ways of exercising the child’s gross and fine motor muscles to promote good health.
I have a number of e-books which promote healthy living including...
E-book 6 - Outside Play £4.99
E-book 21 - Healthy Eating £3.99
E-book 31 - Outside all year round £3.99
All my e-books are available on my website - www.knutsfordchildminding.co.uk
More information about the Government report is available from - http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_127931
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