Three Ideas For Natural Items For Next Term

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Three Ideas For Natural Items For Next Term

Using natural items in your setting isn’t just fun for children, they are a great way for your children to express themselves. Natural items help develop a wide range of skills and they can learn more about their world. When you incorporate natural items into your regular activities you can see your children grow and develop.

Here are some great ideas for natural items you can use in your setting to help them learn, express themselves and have fun.

Natural Art

Natural art is where you use items found outside in pieces of art. It could be a picture made out of fallen leaves or a sculpture made from items found on a walk. Natural art is a creative way to engage the minds of your children.

The textures of the items used in the craft can also stimulate a lot of learning, for example learning about rough and smooth surfaces and what materials will glue together well.

Some good craft ideas are stone painting, leaf collage and building twig huts.

Loose Parts And Maths

Loose parts are essentially anything that’s small. Loose parts might not sound natural, but they can include small stones, twigs, leaves and other items. You can even combine maths with art. For instance, you can paint some small stones different colours and ask the children to count the red stones, blue stones or any combination.

You can also use loose parts in counting games. For instance, you can ask children to pick up five pine cones or six conkers.

Treasures

When you are out and about, be sure to see if there are any little natural treasures you can pick up. These can be used in various different games or just for the children to touch and explore.

Natural items make great learning tools as young children learn first by touch rather than by sight. So if you have younger children in your setting, then natural treasures can be a great learning tool.

Conclusion

While this term is over, planning for the next school year should be started soon. There are lots of things you can do with natural items which can stimulate learning, help children explore their emotions and let them have fun.

By collecting items now, you can be sure there are lots of natural items for your children to use come September.

What natural items do you use in your setting? What do you use them for?

Let us know in the comments below.

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Three Ideas For Natural Items For Next Term

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