Here, Annette, our childminder partner shares two lovely outdoor experiences involving the interactive reading of books outside.
In October half term Kew Gardens and Wakehurst held ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ interactive children’s trails. We put on our Welly Boots and walked along the sensory trail stopping to feel the ‘swishy swashy grass’ and balanced our way over logs but thankfully we didn’t actually ‘stumble trip’ needing an accident report! We then tiptoed towards the ‘cave’ and found the Bear was friendly and we all sat down in the cave and read the bear his story.
This story is such a favourite we always say “Squelch Squirch” when walking through any mud we find.
The Horniman Museum has a display of different species of owls. The children thought these owls looked most like Sarah and Percy and Bill from the well-known story. In the same case we found Mummy Owl with her wings open for when she swoops back through the trees. No one seemed to mind us sitting on the floor and other passing children stopped to join us.
Think about books you’d like to have in your curriculum to support learning in the outdoors.
Are there words you feel the children may understand better if you show and use these in a real context?
Many stories are set in the woods. A trip to the woods is a great way to set the scene for many of our favourite stories.