Thinking outside of the box Thursdays: What is a challenge you face in your outdoor play space?
Outdoor play spaces can vary greatly and each one has its own strengths and challenges. What is a challenge that you have faced during outdoor play? Are there any ways you have tried to overcome the issue?
I worked at a centre with many
natural features, including gardens. The children often touched and inspected
the plants, mulch, or insects that they find. They also enjoy exploring the
garden through smell and sometimes taste (especially among young toddlers). It
can be challenging at times to make sure that the children are staying safe and
learning to respect the plants so they can grow. We support them by modeling
gently touching the plants. We also have conversations about why we cannot eat
some of the plants (for their own health and the plant’s health). Lastly, we can
redirect the children to the garden where we grow edible plants, such as cherry
tomatoes.
We make sure to plant only foods in the garden that are edible. It is a struggle teaching children to be gentle and observe the process. Usually the tomatoes get pulled off before they turn red but we try and follow the children's lead as they think of the tomatoes as balls and use them for various types of play. However when planting seeds it is a struggle talking with children about staying out of the garden to allow them.to grow. That is always a work in progress.
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