Entry Four

Taking into consideration children’s recent interests today as I was on the sandpit I arranged some planks for children to walk on apart from the usual spades, buckets, trucks and cooking utensils.  I put one plank raised about a meter high in the middle of the sandpit, one lower than that going up the steps and some big plastic blocks joined together with two tyres at the end on the concrete. I also placed the round stepping stones on the sandpit and a tunnel between the railings on the walkway leading out from the sandpit.

At once the children were exploring the different planks, the stepping stones and the tunnel but very soon it was evident that all these seemed very easy for the senior children as they were moving easily from one plank to the other. I therefore replaced the raised plank on the sandpit with a narrower one. According to Greenfield (2007) adults who extend the complexity of children’s play helps them increase their reflective thinking, creativity and extend their knowledge. Seeing me moving the plank, C asked if he could use it. I handed it to him and asked him what he wanted to do with it. C said he was going to put it across the tyres. After putting the plank C along with some other children soon got engaged in moving more things such as the stepping stones and the tunnel to create an obstacle course of their own.   Greenfield (2003) states that “the teachers role in promoting the outdoors as a positive learning environment includes providing equipment and challenges that remain static over time as well as equipment children can manipulate” p.5.

While making the obstacle course the children had to make a lot of decisions and problem solve such finding the best spot for putting two planks in a line; how to place them for example at first they were just using three tyres but when the planks kept falling off they brought in another tyre. I also encouraged them by questioning such as “I wonder why the plank keeps falling off?” and I believe this helped them to problem solve as well. According to MacNaughton and Williams (2004) open questions encourage the growth of children’s problem solving skills.

It was evident from this incident that children enjoy moving, arranging and creating things from the equipment available to them so I plan to provide this in different ways and at the same time trying to make it a bit complex each time. Greenfield (2007) states that one of the roles of an adult in the outdoors includes providing a balance between safety, supervision, challenges and risk taking.