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Summer's Here! Make the Most of
It.
by Beth Bye
Is there anything a great as that feeling on the first warm day of Spring for a child care provider? That day when coats are flung off and piled up by the gate and kids are lined up for a swings and building in the sand for extended periods because their hands don't get too cold.
As warmer weather becomes the norm, and summer days get downright hot, options for your preschool and camp curriculum multiply. Are you taking advantage of the opportunities that summer offers?
At
the School for Young Children, our first rule of warm weather is: Spend
as much time outdoors as possible. Staff and children prefer to be outside.
Think of your own favorite childhood memories. Chances are they involve
being outside in summer time. We are building memories for the children
in our care.
Take full advantage of summer by looking at 3 parts of your program: daily routines, activities and your outdoor environment.
RoutinesSummer is a time to consider establishing new routines. It does not have to be the same old, same old. There is no doubt that the daily routine is important for young children. But children will adapt to change as long as it is sensitive to their needs and implemented consistently. Some examples of routines that can change are:
- Have morning drop off on the playground. Take advantage of the cooler time of day and a time when the playground is less in demand.
- Eat morning snack on a tablecloth outside. Wash hands before going out and choose snacks that are amenable to this.
- Take a daily walk after nap time. Find a familiar route and talk about what you see each day. A walk is a wonderful way to ease transitions and walks facilitate conversations.
These are just a few examples. Look at your own routines and think about how you can use the outdoors to enhance your daily routine.
Fun Summer Activities
The outdoors presents opportunities for activities not possible in your
classroom. Here are some examples of summer activities you may want to
try at your center. Most involve water, and many involve a hose!
Car
Wash
Have the children wash a few cars. This activity has all the ingredients
of pure fun for kids: Warm water, soapy bubbles, sponges and the most
favorite - a hose. Get the children dressed in bathing suits. Have a teacher
take 5 at a time and let em go! They will be covered with suds, soaking
wet and so will you. Don't expect the car to be too clean!
Bike Rally
Let the children decorate the bikes or scooters at your center or from
home with crepe paper and painted signs and have a bike parade. All you
need is crepe paper, drawing paper, scotch tape, markers or water color
paints. And before you decorate them... have a bike wash!
Hose in the Sandbox
Water and sand or dirt are tools for fun. Turn on a hose in the sandbox,
or have the kids fill buckets and bring the water to the sandbox. They
love to make water move and build with mud.
Tennis Ball Painting
Fill a 2 -3 trays with washable paint. Roll out a long piece of blotter
paper and tape it to the ground (6 - 10 feet long). Roll the ball around
in the paint and let kids roll or bounce the ball along the paper. This
makes for a mess, but well worth it. Do it on a day you can hose everything
off (including the children).
Spray bottle painting
Put a large piece of blotter paper on the fence outside or on an outdoor
wall. Fill spray bottled with watered down paint. A few at a time, let
children create their own designs on the paper. Watch the colors drip
and mix.
Sprinklers
never fail
If at all possible, purchase sprinkler for your center this summer. This
activity is easy to set up, clean up, and a guaranteed winner every time
for kids.
Have a ball
Do you have balls on your playground? Kids love to roll, kick, throw and
chase balls. There is no doubt that they need constant replacing as they
seem to just disappear, but balls are vital for open ended gross motor
play - tennis balls, soccer balls, Nerf™ footballs, oversized balls,
cones, goals, hoops.
There are many ideas for activities. The key is keeping the activities open ended. And don't be afraid of mess. Summer is the time when kids can wear bathing suits and it's not so hard to change clothes.
Outdoor Environment
On top of these planned activities, summer a time to bring everyday activities
outside. Set up some table activities like Lego™, painting, markers,
easel outside. Use a rolling cart for transporting certain centers activities
in and out. Bring a bin of books out and set up a blanket in the shade.
Having a variety of activities outside enables you to maximize outdoor
time.
Treat
the outdoor learning space as well as you treat your classroom learning
space. In early childhood education, we believe that the the classroom
environment is the third teacher. That is if you have interesting, appealing
activities and learning centers in your classroom, it is like having another
teacher. It is the environment. Teachers spend endless hours rearranging
rooms and organizing shelves and setting up activities for the day indoors.
However, few give the outdoor environment this same attention and focus.
Take more time to focus on your outdoor environment.
Do you have enough shade and sun? Are activities inviting? Do you take time each day to set up the outdoors? Are there balls and enough shovels and buckets? Bubbles? Sidewalk Chalk? Are the trikes in good shape? Is there a shady place for table activities? Are there places where kids feel alone? Is there a water cooler and cups? First aid supplies? Make your outdoor space a functional classroom.
Stay outdoors as much as you can. Adjust routines, plan joyful activities
and give the environment close scrutiny to be sure it is set up to support
learning. The children in your care will reap rewards throughout the lazy,
hazy days of summer - and so will you.
