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Finishing Up
Over the past few days, we’ve published a short series of blogs centred around the theme of social development and play. Starting with the home, we examined how role playing items can help children to understand and replicate household roles, teaching them about things like cooperation and teamwork along the way. We then followed children as they start to journey out into the big and exciting wider world, looking at their interactions in shops, cinemas and more, and finding out how we can best prepare them for life’s little scenarios. With this, our third and final blog, the journey reaches its conclusion, accompanying them on their travels to the local park and beyond; looking closely at the benefits of the outdoors for your child, and also acknowledging the importance of respecting and conserving nature in the 21st century.
The Great Outdoors
A multitude of studies and popular research all support the general consensus that getting your children outside more will come to benefit them in a wide variety of ways, academically, socially and physiologically – just to name a few. The experience of fresh air, a break from the classroom and a change of scenery has been proven to help stimulate concentration, better preparing them for learning activities and challenges. The journey to the local park might be a bit of a stretch for some early learning establishments, which is why it’s important to develop a quaint area on the school premises where students can come to learn about and appreciate nature.
Edusentials offer a range of playground equipment to help facilitate this, from picnic benches to intricately woven willow dens. We also offer a wide variety of wooden picnic benches designed to easily fit into a range of playground environments. Available in a number of shapes, sizes and finishes, with some even offering disabled access, these picnic benches truly are a fantastic way to encourage students to eat, play, learn and socialise in an outdoor environment. They’ve also been crafted specifically to prioritise durability, and offer value for money on a long term investment. Our outdoor cushions are also a great resource to help facilitate outdoor learning in comfort.
Conservation is Key
Getting children out into nature, however, is no longer quite enough to fully satisfy their ongoing social education. In a developing world in which resources are increasingly scarce, and alarming amounts of plant and animal life are reaching levels of extinction, it’s important to reaffirm to children the importance of conservation, preservation and moderation from a young age. By encouraging your children to explore nature further, perhaps with our purpose built Hazel Dens or Willow Huts, you can actively work to stimulate this form of social understanding, reiterating the importance of respecting their natural surroundings as they get older.
Thus concludes our series of blogs on social play and development; having followed children as they progress from the home out into the city, and later the park, we’ve looked at how teachers, care-givers and parents can help to stimulate social understanding and appreciation of typical behavioural norms through role playing and outdoor playground equipment. Take some time to browse through the various items we’ve discussed at our website today, and visit our social media to let us know your thoughts on the series.
Originally written 8 October 2015