This week’s “Power of Play” Stay and Play session was a beautiful reminder of why the Great Outdoors is the ultimate classroom. It was wonderful to see so many parents getting involved in the garden alongside their children, fully embracing the joy of discovery!
Strong Hands, Strong Bodies
While it might have looked like “just” hammering pins or squeezing playdough, Parents were able to see their children were actually engaged in some serious physical engineering.
• Fine Motor Strength: Squeezing dough and hammering pins are essential for developing the “strong hands” needed for writing.
• Gross Motor Power: Climbing, jumping, and balancing on the garden equipment, and even the heavy work of carrying objects across the garden, builds the core strength and coordination that supports a child’s focus and posture.
Hands-On: The “Vocabulary Magnet”
Parents and staff were able to talk about how hands-on activities are vocabulary magnets. It is much easier for a child to truly understand and “own” a word when they are experiencing it with all five senses. It’s hard to forget what “sticky” means when your hands are covered in glue, or what “transparent” means when you’re peering through a magnifying glass at a tiny bug. By playing together, we are sticking new words to real-world experiences.
The Science of the Playdough Recipe
One of the highlights was watching children work together on a playdough recipe. This wasn’t just about the finished product; it was a masterclass in:
• Collaboration: Learning the tricky art of taking turns.
• Early Maths: Measuring out ingredients and observing how textures change when we add more or less liquid.
“Our key message to families is this: When your child is ‘just playing, they are actually hard at work building the physical, social, and linguistic foundations for a lifetime of learning.”
