Enabling Environments: Outdoors - Whatever the weather

As we come to the end of a disappointing spring, it is no surprise that many people have been staying indoors as much as possible, just to keep warm. But with families leading increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and a growing national child obesity problem, it is more important than ever that children are able to get outdoors and enjoy plenty of physical activity all year round.

At the Barra Hall Children's Centre in Hayes, Middlesex, we wanted to get families out into the fresh air being active together, come rain or shine. So we invited a group of twoand three-year-olds and their parents or carers to join us for a series of five weekly hour-long walks around a neighbouring park. These would provide opportunities for physical development, but also introduce them to the wonders of nature and some ideas for fun outdoor activities they may never have tried before.

EXPLODING THE MYTHS

Before starting out, we felt that we needed to explode some of the myths and worries that might be preventing families from stretching their boundaries and making the most of the outdoor environment. For example:

• 'My child will get ill if he goes out in the rain or cold'

• 'My child can't walk that far/climb that high/might fall and hurt himself'

• There are too many dangers out there to allow my child to run free'

• 'My child doesn't like getting dirty or wet'

• 'My child may be frightened'

• 'My child is too young'

• 'My child is only safe when in his buggy or holding my hand.'

We talked to the participating families about how we catch colds and flu - not from getting our feet wet, but from viruses passed from person to person. We discussed the perceived risks involved in letting their children play and explore outdoors, from getting lost or falling over to encountering strangers and dogs, and how best to minimise them. And we set a few important ground rules too. Families would turn up and take part every week, suitably dressed, no matter what the weather. And the children were going to be encouraged to walk, run, jump and climb, so although we knew they would probably get tired, we all agreed these sessions had to be strictly buggy-free.

WELLIES ON!

Every week, we all wrapped up warm in our coats, hats and scarves, grabbed an umbrella and donned our wellies before setting out. We hoped that much of what happened outside would be spontaneous and child-led. Any advance planning had to stay fairly loose in any case, as we never knew what the weather would be like on any given day. As it turned out, we encountered just about every possible kind of weather, barring fog, during our walks, so we were able to explore lots of options.

RAINBOWS AND RHYMES

As an ongoing weekly activity, we asked the children to look out for all the colours of the rainbow among the flowers, leaves and berries that they saw, and to collect samples. We took photos of anything we felt they couldn't or shouldn't pick. Their collections were carefully carried back to base and stuck on to colour charts at the end of each walk, with the task of seeking out any missing or under-represented colours being carried forward to the following week.

Every family was also given a laminated sheet of eight weather-based rhymes and we sang them together, loudly and with actions, as we walked. We concentrated on two each week, trying to match the most appropriate ones to the weather of the day, and families then practised these at home before moving on to learn two more the following week. When they could sing all the rhymes together in week five, we gave out Rhyme Challenge certificates.

EXPLORING THE GREAT OUTDOORS

The park we were exploring is quite a large one, with small hills, a bandstand, flower beds, a variety of trees and shrubs, a formal rose garden, playground, parakeets and other wildlife, and lots of lovely grassy open space.

We checked signposts and noted different pathways and landmarks so we could follow a different route each week, meaning there was always something new to discover, from the architecture of an ancient church to worms wriggling in the mud. On two occasions we visited the playground, with its more conventional balancing, climbing, swinging and sliding equipment, as an end-of-walk treat, which seemed to breathe new energy into even the weariest children.

For our final session, we ventured further afield. Having talked about road safety, and with some of the children now wearing their 'reins', we took a short walk along the road to a more formal memorial garden. Here we had to obey 'keep off the grass' rules, walked through a woodland area packed with daffodils, and encountered a bridge, a pond, and a wonderful statue carved from a tree - plenty to stimulate the imagination and curiosity of both children and parents alike.

OUR ACTIVITIES

Here are some of the weather-inspired activities we enjoyed:

• Making simple kites from supermarket carrier bags and string, and running up hills to fly them in the wind

• Closing our eyes and trying to identify the sounds around us

• Using photos and tick sheets for observation and counting exercises, with the children ticking the relevant image each time they spotted a bird, dog, signpost, bin, gate, etc

• Jumping in puddles and comparing wellie prints in the mud

• Chasing and catching bubbles and snowflakes

• Learning some new words and what they mean

• Storytimes on the bandstand and grass, using our kites to sit on, with the stories all having a connection to what we were doing that day

• Planting seeds and beans in containers to be taken home, so the children could dig, water and nurture them in their own gardens over the coming weeks.

GAINING CONFIDENCE

Once the children were 'let loose' and started to run on ahead of us, enjoying their freedom and sharing experiences with their new friends, their confidence grew week by week. At the same time their parents began to relax, and their determination to keep their children clean, dry and within sight and reach at all times started to diminish. The children finished each week's activities tired but happy, and the messy state they came back in was nothing that a wash of their hands and change of clothes couldn't put right.

This is certainly a project we intend to repeat in the months ahead, when hopefully we will be able to include more warm-weather activities, and the most appropriate weather-proof clothing will be T-shirts, sunhats and sunscreen.

OUR OUTDOOR STORIES AND WEATHER RHYMES

Our outdoor stories

• Splosh! (a Kipper story) by Mick Inkpen

• The Windy Day by Anna Milbourne

• Bunny and Bee's Rainbow Colours by Sam Williams

• The Snowy Day by Anna Milbourne

• Elmer's Weather by David McKee

• Ten Seeds by Ruth Brown

Our weather rhymes

• Let's Go Fly a Kite

• The Sun Has Got His Hat On

• Incy Wincy Spider

• The North Wind Doth Blow

• Doctor Foster Went to Gloucester

• Rain, Rain, Go Away

• It's Raining, It's Pouring

• I Hear Thunder