How to Encourage Outdoor Play

Outdoor play opens up a whole new world of possibilities for children and can add extra fun and excitement towards playing outside in the fresh air. There are lots of ways that you can encourage outdoor play and introduce it into your curriculum without lots of preparation and organisation.

Canopies
If I was to list the benefits that a canopy offers to outdoor play, then this blog post would go on forever, so I won’t go on for too long! So here it is in a nutshell: canopies enable children to enjoy the outdoors in all weather conditions; they can still play outside whilst being in touch with nature and breathing in fresh air whilst also keeping protected from the rain and beaming sun.

There are so many activities that can be carried out under your canopy, and any outside equipment you have can be left outside, saving you have to bring it all indoors at the end of each day.

Play Panels
Play panels are fantastic for outdoor play and learning, and they also encourage social engagement between children. There’s a wide range of play panels out there including interactive play panels that have moving parts such as the Scientific Colours Play Panel and the Tell Me The Time Play Panel which helps children learn how to tell the time.

There are also play panels that do not have any moving parts but still help children learn whilst also playing, such as the Shapes Education Activity Panel and the Alphabet Panel Range.

A musical play panel can also be purchased from our online shop, the Stainless Steel Drum Musical Panel which comes with a beater attached, and children can create their own melodies whilst their friends dance along.

Planters
Planting outside is something that children really enjoy. Getting to watch something grow from a tiny seed into a small shoot and then into healthy flowering plants or vegetables is fascinating for many children. Particularly for those who may not get to experience this at home. Planters look great outside and can brighten up your outside area nicely.

We supply two types of planters: colourful floor planters made from 100% recycled HDPE. These can be placed anywhere, but they look great under and around your canopy. The other type of planter is the wall mounted garden 3-pot planter which can be personalised with text such as flowers, vegetables, and herbs, so you can create a mini-growing garden for your pupils.

Activities

And of course, when it comes to outdoor play, one of the best ways to encourage it is to create different types of fun and interactive activities for them to enjoy! You could be creative and make up your own activities, or you could ask children what they enjoy the most outside, and you may be able to incorporate something from their ideas. Fun activities can be generated from play panels, and this creates a good starting point, and then the fun can carry on from there!

Download our free How to Get the Most out of Your Canopy Guide which has many ideas for getting the most out of your canopy all year round and includes some fun lesson plans and outdoor play ideas for you to try out.

Able Canopies Ltd. design, manufacture and install canopies and shade structures at schools, nurseries and educational settings to enable year-round Free Flow Outdoor Play and Outdoor Learning.
For more information please contact us

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How to Encourage Outdoor Play

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