Beginning the Year in the Outdoor Classroom

9/9/2022

A Rainey Day

Our first day of the new school year was Backwards Day, which means we began in the outdoor classroom. It seemed a perfect fit for the Rainey Room to start outside on a rainy day. Even in the rain, children were eager to explore, create and play in the outdoor classroom.

Each child played differently in the rain. Charlton was one friend who was especially not afraid.
Emma: (Noticing Charlton is about to go down the slide) Uh oh, the slide is wet!
Charlton: I don’t care about getting wet. I don’t need a coat or boots.

Anything we can do inside, we can do outside!

The outdoor classroom provides opportunities for children to take risks, express their creativity, and solve problems. We view our time in the outdoor classroom as equally as important as our time in the indoor classroom; anything we can do inside, we can do outside! Each day, there will be a new provocation in the outdoor classroom to spark the children’s curiosity and allow them to engage with various materials and mediums in the fresh air.

One provocation we have been working on both indoors and outdoors is watercolor painting.

Whit: I’m going to paint a dungeon!
(Emma goes to him a little while after he has made progress on his painting)
Emma: Can you tell me about your painting, Whit?
Whit: I painted a dungeon.
Emma: What colors did you decide to use?
Whit: Rainbow like the colors in the sky. I used all the colors.
Emma: What color is your dungeon?
Whit: It’s black. It’s all the colors.

Cal: I think we should paint on this rock!
Emma: Wow that’s a great idea
(Zari comes over to the table)
Zari: I want to paint on the rock too.
(Zari finds a brush and begins to paint)
Zari: I’m making it all purple. Did you know if you paint on a rock it’s beautiful?
Emma: It really is beautiful! What could the rock be?
Cal: It could be a jet or a rocket ship.
Zari: It’s a pet.
Cal: No, it’s a rocket ship.
(Cal and Zari go back and forth about what it could be. They are both adamant that it is their respective ideas)
Emma: Could it be a rocket ship and a pet?
Cal: It could be on the other side
(Zari helps Cal flip the rock over)
Zari: We’re both painting!

Ellie: I’m going to paint a house.
Ellie: Wait, I’m gonna go look at this bug. What kind of bug is it?
Emma: Oh, that’s a cockroach!
Ellie: It’s a cockroach! It’s dead. I’m painting a cockroach.
Emma: What color will you use to paint the cockroach?
Ellie: Let me go see what color the cockroach is. It’s brown and orange. Its legs are orange. I want to do brown.

Ava: A doll house!
Emma: What colors are you using to paint your doll house?
Ava: Brown.
Emma: Why did you decide to use brown?
Ava: It’s my favorite color. I also like green. I spread it around. Even when I don’t put my paint on this (the sponge). It’s like this (Ava shows how she moves around the green watercolor paint on her paper).
Emma: It’s kind of wet!
Ava: Yeah like that. I’m all done.

A Pirate's Life For Us

Pirates have been a common theme in the children’s play. They have been going on sea adventures to pirate land, reading about pirates, digging for treasure, and building pirate ships.