At Hiba Nursery we place strong importance on the role of outdoor learning in our children’s education. Children can be found playing outside either in our expansive shared area or in our tailored deck and balcony areas at most points throughout the day. More importantly children can be found outside in every season of the year. Come rain or sunshine, warmth or cold Hiba children are active outdoor learners. But why do we place such a strong focus on our outdoor learning? There are many answers to this, but here are just a few of the more important ones. Outdoor learning encourages childrens different styles of learning. At Hiba Nursery we believe in a bespoke education that caters to each child’s individual needs and interests. This means that we seek to inspire learners in a way that is meaningful to them. Whether that be developing the understanding of capacity in EY2s water play area, expressing their creativity in the music area of EY3 or exploring the enveloping scheme with dens in EY1, almost every aspect of our curriculum can be taught outside. Outdoor learning creates new opportunities.
In our outdoor learning we aim to do much more than just bring the inside outdoors. The learning that takes place in our outdoor areas can not easily be conducted inside. This learning develops skills and understanding the enhances and compliments the learning the takes part indoors and in turn our indoor learning enhances what is taught outdoors. A wonderful example of this has been seen lately in our mud kitchen where some of the EY4s who have been looking at volcanoes have made their own mud volcanoes that are nearly a metre high. Outdoor learning encourages a healthy lifestyle. Children are spending more and more time indoors, especially compared to their own parent’s childhoods. This has led to an increase in childhood obesity and a general decline in the level of fitness and gross motor skills amongst populations across the world. At Hiba we value every part of our child’s learning, looking at the child as a whole. This obviously includes the child’s physical wellbeing. Children who spend more time outdoors are likely not only to be healthier physically but to also have a greater understanding and appreciation of nature – something that as developing global citizens we are eager to encourage. I hope this article has provided a small insight into why we value outdoor learning so highly at Hiba Nursery. However, you too can be a part of this journey. Take a walk outside, explore the world around you and be brave enough to get messy, wet or both. Clothing will dry, mud will wash off but the experiences and learning that takes place will last a lifetime.
As we have started Phase 1 of our project, we are introducing EY1 children to a range of books and stories based around the ocean and sea creatures. This week we have started reading books called Commotion in the Ocean and The Sleeping Whale. After reading, children had a deeper understanding of sea creatures and they started to represent their thoughts in different ways.
With the expansion of our research, our project on pumpkins has also gradually become deeper. We cut the pumpkin and began to explore its internal structure. We learned the names of the different parts of the pumpkin. In the process of exploring pumpkins through smell and touch, we have also collected many questions and ideas, which will provide new directions for our project learning. Removing seeds, cutting pumpkins into pieces and mashing... the children participated in every step of making pumpkin soup. The activity of making pumpkin soup provides great opportunities for children to improve their language communication skills, bulk muscle movement skills and problem-solving skills.
With the expansion of our research, our project on pumpkins has also gradually become deeper. We cut the pumpkin and began to explore its internal structure. We learned the names of the different parts of the pumpkin. In the process of exploring pumpkins through smell and touch, we have also collected many questions and ideas, which will provide new directions for our project learning.Removing seeds, cutting pumpkins into pieces and mashing... the children participated in every step of making pumpkin soup. The activity of making pumpkin soup provides great opportunities for children to improve their language communication skills, bulk muscle movement skills and problem-solving skills.
Through our project work, children have been showing interests in giraffes and their features. Linking to this, we have been exploring the concepts of measuring height and introduced the language of tall, short, taller, and shorter. This week the children have been using their problem-solving skills to try and measure the height of our newest member of EY3 – a life size giraffe. This activity has seen the children work together to think both creatively and critically about how to accurately measure the whole animal.