The natural environment can and should be an exciting 'classroom' for children, providing opportunities for investigation and scientific discovery on a daily basis. It can also offer them a base for observing changes that occur over a period of time.
Not all children have a garden at home or ready access to local parks. It is crucial that we as early years practitioners create in the setting an area that will provide children with rich and varied learning experiences and motivate them to find out about features and occurrences in nature.
The outdoor area can also be an ideal place in which to develop other aspects of scientific understanding, particularly the exploration of materials and forces. Practitioners need to consider carefully how to organise and resource the area if opportunities are to be plentiful and meaningful.
Staffing levels and how to support children's scientific learning also need to be considered in planning. If staff rotas require adults to swap areas too frequently, children's interest may be interrupted or evaporate without the continuity of support. It is important that children are encouraged to pursue their investigations and develop ideas and communication with involved adults to ensure that their learning experiences are truly satisfying.
Some settings will be limited in the outdoor space that they can offer children, but even the smallest of areas in the bleakest of surroundings can be developed to become an oasis for scientific learning.
The world beyond the nursery boundary should not be forgotten when planning for children's learning. Experiences can be enriched through, for example, walks to the park and woodland areas or visits to a local garden centre.
Planned resources
To enrich children's explorations and enable them to take their investigations all the way to the point of 'discovery', we as practitioners need to plan both the layout of the outdoor area and the resources to be made available. We also need to ensure that the storage boxes and trolleys used in the setting are labelled clearly and are easily accessible so that we can respond quickly to children's scientific interests.
Designing the area
* If setting up an area from scratch, or developing an existing area, provide both flat and sloping spaces and a range of surfaces, such as tarmac, grass and bark chippings. Try to ensure that there is an area large enough for children to experiment with speed and direction in safety when riding wheeled toys.
* Provide a garden area and include a patch where children can dig freely.
* Think carefully about the plants that you grow. Select plants and shrubs that attract butterflies and birds, and provide both coniferous and deciduous trees. Use the area to stimulate children's sense of smell by including some fragrant plants. Allow part of the area to grow wild and provide logs that will attract, for example, woodlice and so enable children to learn about habitats.
* Provide seating in quiet areas so that children can reflect and observe seasonal changes or perhaps, birds nest-building.
* When choosing fencing, make safety and security a top priority, but also bear in mind the benefits to children of being able to see through the fencing, and watch what is happening in the world beyond the setting.
Equipment
* Wind chimes, windmills, flags and wind socks.
* Waterproof clothing (splash suits or cagoules and leggings) and Wellington boots.
* Weather resource boxes, containing equipment for supporting children's learning about rain, sun, wind, snow and ice.
* Troughs, or tyres, filled with pebbles, gravel, sand, compost, bark chippings.
* Gardening tools and equipment (plant pots, seed trays, wheelbarrow, watering cans, sieve, rake, spades, hoe, trowels).
* Shallow builder's tray, sand and water trays.
* Jugs, funnels, siphons, tubing and piping, buckets, spoons, sieves, colanders, water wheels and lengths of plastic guttering.
* Balls (different sizes and materials), cylinders, toy cars and other vehicles, wheels and axles.
* Wooden blocks and planks, crates, tyres.
* Ropes.
* Decorator's brushes.
* Bikes (including tandem bikes), scooters and other wheeled toys.
* Magnifying glasses, 'bug boxes', binoculars, telescopes.
* Clipboards, paper and pencils.
* Information books about trees, plants, insects and so on.
Planned activities
Practitioners need to be able to take advantage of the scientific learning that may stem from children's interests and occurrences in the natural and man-made world. Below are suggested activities through which practitioners can support and extend children's learning in specific areas of scientific development: Weather Be prepared to respond to weather conditions as they occur by gathering together resources beforehand.
Sun Look at children's shadows and draw around them with chalk). Encourage them to make different shadow shapes with their bodies. Make simple shadow puppets and cast shadow images on a wall. Mark shadows of trees or buildings at various intervals during the day and discuss the children's observations. Use brushes and water to make marks on the ground and watch as the water evaporates and the marks disappear.
Wind Make and fly kites, looking at which materials are the most effective and talking about wind strength and direction. Use ribbons and chiffon scarves to help children explore the effects of wind. Blow bubbles and watch where the wind blows them.
Rain Make sure that children are dressed appropriately, then stand outside during a heavy downpour and listen to the sound of the rain on clothes, the ground, trees, pots and umbrellas. Feel the raindrops on faces and hands.
Collect rain and use it to water plants. Look for places in the outdoor area that are sheltered from the rain and talk about why they are dry.
Snow and ice Look for ice patterns on windows and in puddles. Use cold weather to learn about physical changes like freezing and melting. Place ice pieces in different parts of the outdoor area and observe what happens.
Collect snow in a water tray and look at changes as it melts. Leave buckets containing water and sequins outside overnight and talk about how the water has changed into a solid block of ice and the sequins have been immobilised.
Planting and growing Plant seeds (flowers and vegetables) and bulbs in the garden. Encourage children to take responsibility for their care and monitor their progress.
Using the senses Plan sensory trails, where you can, for example, invite children to listen for certain sounds as they follow a trail around the area. Encourage children to touch and handle tree bark, stones and leaves and to use words such as rough, smooth and scratchy to describe their textures.
Mixing materials Organise activities that will enable children to observe the changes that occur when sand and water are mixed together - paddling in wet sand, mixing sand and water to make 'cakes', or 'cement' when building walls with wooden blocks. Also offer opportunities for mixing other materials with water, such as soil (mud pies are always a favourite!), sawdust and clay, and encourage children to make comparisons.
Making collections Give children their own collection tray, bag or box, and encourage them to collect things, such as pebbles, leaves, conkers, acorns and twigs, and to talk about their collections. Provide non-fiction books from which children can find out more information about items in their collections.
Exploring forces Encourage children to set up their own car or ball runs using plastic guttering and crates, tyres and blocks to create levels and alter inclines. Egg-rolling tracks at Easter can also be good fun! Learn about friction by rolling balls on different surfaces and observing how the soles of different footwear feel and work.
Problem solving Offer children challenges such as 'How can you move this log to the other side of the garden without carrying it?'
Patterns in nature Talk about patterns found in the natural world. Draw from observations done with children, using magnifying glasses to look closely at leaves, seeds, insects, cobwebs, frost and flowers. Recreate patterns using a range of media. Make imprints of objects such as leaves and shells in wet sand or soil.
Autumn leaves Mark leaves on trees with different coloured stickers in the autumn and guess which colour will fall first and which last.
Night and day If possible, allow children to experience daybreak/nightfall outside in the winter months (not all children will attend settings during these hours). Talk about light and dark and features such as stars, the moon and the sun. Discuss the sun as a source of light and explain that it 'lights up' the moon, making it look bright against the dark sky. Ask children to think about their daily routines and talk about nocturnal animals and birds.
