Calling all budding Einsteins and Curies, June is Science and Discovery month at Playforce and we’re very excited to get experimenting. Get ready to grab your goggles and lab coats as we put a spark into outdoor learning.
We’ve said it thousands of times before and we’ll say it again, outdoor learning is amazing! Recently we’ve been talking about lots of great ways you can take maths out of the classroom, but this month we’re focusing on science.
Science should be learnt through experimenting and hands-on experiences. In order for children to learn about the science itself, they need real-life contexts to apply it in. Sat in front of the whiteboard in a classroom is not ideal for this, seeing science in action in the playground is.
How can you take science into the playground? We’ve got a few ideas hidden up our lab coat sleeves…
1. Explore fiction and forces with a Ball Fall & Water Channelling Set. Rebuild the set at different heights, angles, even try lining the channels with different materials to see how all the different variables affect speed and distance. Alternatively fill the channels with water and ask the children to design boats to move along the track.
2. Experimenting with water in the classroom ends in a lot of soggy exercise books so head outside and fill up a Water Table to learn about forces and water. Fill our Sinking Ships with lots of different materials to see which one makes it sink first. Weights, pebbles, marbles, sand, even ice make great variables for this fun, hands-on project.
3. Learning about eco-systems and the life-cycle of plants is essential in science lessons and there’s no better way to do it than seeing it up close and personal. Encourage the children to plant flowers or herbs in a Rustic Seating Planter so that they can watch them grow and see each stage of the life-cycle in real-time. A Mini-Beast Habitat is perfect for learning about natural habitats and ecosystems. Children can watch insects make it their home over the year and see how the eco-system forms.
There are so many amazing outdoor science ideas to experiment with, that we decided to put them all into one handy place. Our Science in the Playground board on Pinterest is the perfect starting point for taking science lessons outdoors. Share your favourite outdoor science experiments with us by sending us a tweet or dropping us a message on Facebook.
If you want to develop your playground to make it science lesson friendly, book a free consultation with one of our experts today.