by: fay86 - 20-04-08 12:17
just wondered if anybody allows children to experience digging and planting in their nursery? i asked the nursery manager for some for children in my room (age 3-4) to use but she said it was too much of an health and safety risk.just wondered if anybody has done this with their children as i thought that as long as the activiity is properly superivsed it would be ok?
thanks :-)
by: Debs
We do it all of the time. The children have a digging space in the garden, they look for worms and other creatures, as well as making mud pies etc. They also have a growing space where they do gardening, they grow their own veg, one of my staff is a very keen gardener. We also replace the sand indoors with compost bought from a garden center. There is no health and safety risk if the children wash their hands afterwards and it's good for them to get dirty when they play from time to time. Go for it.
by: fay86
thats what i thought, as long as the children wash their hands afterwards, i know the children in my nursery would love it...might ask manager again tomorow :-)
thanks
by: Skyenet
In my Placement the 1 to 2 year olds are always digging in the soil. Some are fascinated by worms so was thinking of making a wormery (off to google for more info). I got great sticky rubber worms out of Asda during Halloween and now wish I ahd bought a few more packets as the children love playing with them.
by: kalual
hi there, i'm the 2-3 coordinator at my nursery and during our dinosaur topic last term, we made swamp water!! i gave them water, soil, leaves and plant roots and they made their own swamp!! it was great!! i made sure that they all washed their hands thoroughly after using soap and warm water and they were fine. as you say, as long as they are supervised and follow hygiene routines, there is no health and safety concerns. is your manager more bother by mess i wonder??
by: Millie
Hi Fay86
It is so sad that you are having to pose this question.
Children should be able to do what they are good at and that means playing outdoors with natural materials, such as soil.
This will enable practitioners to aid children with more kinaesthetic learning styles to access the otherwise staid curriculum indoors.
Where nurseries are not allowing children to take risks like these they are preventing them from learning important life skills. Playing outdoors with natural materials such as soil enhances the child's development, strengthening finger muscles and upper arm muscles aiding writing skills and above all provides them with knowledge and understanding of the world. Add tools such as water, containers and digging implements, bark, sand, gravel the list is endless. As a practitioner you will be on hand to ensure Health and Safety issues are addressed, in relation to the children's overall welfare (by making sure gravel and materials are not put in mouth etc., and materials are age appropriate).
You will also find that this type of play, indoors or outdoors will enhance their emotional well-being.
If your Manager thinks soil poses a serious risk, suggest that they purcahse some child sized gardening gloves! But remember a good setting will have a clear hygiene policy and hands can be washed!!!
by: timmylums
Hi Fay86
I am really surprised that your manager has not realised the importance of allowing children to explore their environment. All children love to play with soil and the dirtier they get the better they seem to like it. If you are going to create a purpose built area outside I would advise you to always ensure that you are able to cover it up at night or keep a net on it to ensure that any local cats cannot use it for a litter tray. Allowing children to dig in dirt is one thing but if cats have visited it is something else. Maybe this is something your manager is thinking about! if you are going to convince her of the purpose of exploring soil maybe you could use it as an opportunity to grow some flowers or veg as other people have already said. As you say it is not just for digging but has other qualities and uses not found in the usual sand and water activities.
by: fay86
thanks for your posts everyone, good news, the manager eventually let the children have soil, they had it out today and loved it!
by: lil_emz
Millie I really agree with you, nurseries really do not like taking risks.
The nursery where I work has the children outside for a good portion of the day now playing with the same toys for hours on end and it breaks my heart because i just wonder what on earth the children are benefiting from it
Fay I hope your children love the soil :-)
Emma
by: Millie
Hi lil emz
That is so sad, can you not have team meetings in order to brainstorm what indoor play can be extended outdoors? A simple extension for example to enhance Knowledge and Understanding of the world - is when children write or make marks in the home corner that has been adapted as an office, this can be extended outdoors by the children making a post box, this can be sited outdoors, crossings, lolipop person outfits and lolistick (probably has a correct name, but I do not know it!) zebra crossings can all be made and the children can use bikes and trikes.
On the subject of soil though, I agree with the others soil can be protected in some areas by putting a cover of it. So why not extend writing outside for the younger ones, by aiding them to mark make in soil - letters, numbers etc.,
Also extend stories, such as "Were going on a bear hunt", trays filled with gravel to make the sound of crunching underfoot, we have used shaving foam and crushed ice together to create the feeling and look of snow, made huge trees with the children a papier mache cave for the bear.
It takes time and effort from the team and staff to liaise together to make a creative fun learning environment. But that learning environment needs to be fun so that children learn and experiment through play.
Just by simply observing children you can plan around their individual interests. I went to one nursery who extended Easter around a child's interest in dinosaurs, they made huge papier mache eggs, and gave out of various materials, straw and paper leaves which they themselves arranged to be kind to the dinosaur inside the cave. They read Dinosaur roar outside the classroom - this play is voluntary, a member of staff does not force the issue, but was on hand to interact with the children when they visited the cave during the time they were outdoors.
I am afraid that half the time outdoors is not accessed enough down do some Managers having no inovation, not listening to the needs of their team, or keeping abreast of current research and theory (although we all know that outdoor play provides a wealth of developmental pluses). Sometimes it is down to simple laziness. I do know some settings have no access to outdoors. But come September one of the EYFS requirements is to ensure that they do provide access by some means.
But above all a few Managers (not saying all!) wonder why some children are badly behaved - namely boys. Boys need different learning opportunities, they need to run, kick, jump, get dirty and above all explore. Practitioners need to provide for these children and have an open outdoor policy, so that they can not only let off steam, but continue to learn in an outdoor environment at their own pace, not dictated by ridget indoor routines with half an hour outdoor play a day, which is not enough.
I suggest you try and have more team meetings and challenge current practice. Good luck and have fun with the children.
