Child Initiated Learning in the Outdoor Area

Following Children’s Interests

At Daisykins Day Nursery in Rugby, we strongly believe in children’s interests being at the heart of their learning. We are keen to develop child-initiated play using the children’s ideas as a stimulus to extend their learning further and motivate each child by sustaining their interest.When playing in the cottage role-play house, a group of children directed their play to incorporate their own ideas. One child, in particular, invited another child to participate, initiating conversation with them, asking if they would like to take on the role of their neighbour. The children used the “secret tunnel” to travel between the house and the opposite side of the fence where they each took turns in becoming the neighbour, knocking on the fence as if it were a door; “Hello! We ran out of cookies. Do you have any for us please?”. The children then returned to the cottage where they put their apron on and began baking at the stove, shortly after returning to their neighbour with their baked goods; “Here you go. For you. I made you cookies.”[ngg src="galleries" ids="252" display="basic_slideshow"]The children encouraged others to join in, calling “Cookies! Cookies! Who wants Cookies? I got Cookies!”, with one child adding other homemade treats to their menu; “This one’s burgers and this one’s chocolate.” Another child introduced the use of a calculator that he had brought in from home, using it as a telephone to contact their neighbour and invite them round to share his cookies; “Hello! Do you want a cookie? I made cookies for you. Come and try a cookie. I have cookies. Do you want some? Do you want one? Bye!” This activity continued for the duration of the children’s outdoor mixed age learning time as they played co-operatively alongside one another, extending and elaborating on their play ideas.