If you’re home with little ones, you might feel like they’ve played with every game and toy you own a hundred times in the last few weeks. If you’re starting to run out of ideas for crafts and creative play, why not try something a bit different with some forest school-style fun?
Tiny Oaks forest school is providing free tips for outdoor learning activities, with fun ideas to keep under 5’s busy while developing skills with numbers, phonics, shapes and more. They’re ideal to try out in the garden! There are ten ideas below to start off with, and plenty more on the Tiny Oaks Facebook page here.
You can find full details for Tiny Oaks in Whitley Bay below, so that when social distancing is behind us you can book a session to enjoy getting mucky and making new friends!
1. Shapes: Can you find natural objects to make shapes? You can use:
-Mud balls
-Shells
-Stones
-Sea glass
-Corks
-Leaves
-Twigs
2: Numberline: Can you find natural objects to make a numberline? Write out the numbers in chalk on stones or on the ground.
3: Music & potions: Make a music or potion station from clean recycling using old bottles and jars.
-Fill glass bottles to different levels, add some food colouring for fun, and make music with a twig for a drumstick.
-Make a fragrant potion with petals, leaves and water. Practise measuring out different amounts of water.
4: Play dough: Make some play dough and get creative!
-Follow the recipe below then add some natural objects to create characters & scenes.
5: Water spots: play with water and numbers.
– Questions to ask: Where is the water going? Can you investigate?
– After you’ve painted your water spots, you can play number leap frog.
6: Insect art: Can you make a butterfly or another mini beast from natural objects?
7: Letters: Can you use natural materials to make letters?
8: Phonics target: Make a phonics target with large letters and drawings. So far we have gathered pinecones to throw and a sponge with water. What else from garden could you use?
9: Caterpillar race: When it’s a bit too blowy outside, how about a blowy game inside?
– Make a concertina Caterpillar, grab a straw and make a course to blow the Caterpillar around. First one back, wins!
10: Mud kitchen: How about setting up a mud kitchen in the garden. You don’t need anything fancy, just a few bits will get you started.
Thanks so much to Tiny Oaks for sharing their ideas. You can like their Facebook page here to keep up to date with plenty more fun activities.
Useful Info
Children learn so much from play and exploration and what a better way than outside! Tiny Oaks forest school is all about children learning new skills, having fun and getting mucky!
Tiny Oaks sessions are available for under 5s, including play and exploration, small group activity time, stories and songs. Each session is 1 hour and 15 minutes and a healthy snack is provided.
Mighty Oaks sessions are available for reception to Year 4, to build on from previous learning and develop a variety of skills for using tools, making and cooking on a fire plus social skills too.
Seaside Oaks sessions are held on the beach on selected dates during school holidays – check out the Tiny Oaks Facebook page here for updates.
Plus Birthday Party packages available! More details here.
Address: Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, NE26 3NS – wooded area next to Churchill running track, close to Monkseaton Metro.
Tel: 07456 850 553
Email: jane.tucker@tinyoaks.co.uk
Facebook: @wheretinyoaksgrow
Website: www.tinyoaks.co.uk
Alternatively, if Tiny Oaks is out of your area, you can find other local outdoor groups here – and can keep busy in the meantime with plenty of virtual classes here.
If you’d like to keep up to date when new resources are added, please click here and like the Gateshead Mumbler Facebook page 🙂
