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You are here: Home / Play-Based Learning Activities / Low or No Prep Backyard Activities for Young Kids

May 8, 2017 By Alana Pace 1 Comment

Low or No Prep Backyard Activities for Young Kids

The snow in our area has finally melted. Honestly, it’s as if a massive weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. And it would seem the parents at school drop-off and around our neighbourhood are feeling a whole lot lighter too. The spring in everyone’s step is palpable. While I do love the excitement of a fresh snowfall, I’m a west coast girl. Rain and grey skies are my versions of winter. So when the snow falls and stays – for over five months, I get restless and so do my kids.

Suffice it to say, we are celebrating being able to go outside as often as possible. The doors and windows are wide open. Our outdoor toys have been brought up from the basement and dusted off. We’re having a blast. Despite all of our excitement and the games they’re inventing, sometimes my kids need a little extra push to stay outside and enjoy the weather. As such, I like having a list of activities up my sleeve for when they get bored. I love anything that requires little-to-no prep and encourages open-ended play. Here are some of our favourite super simple backyard activities for young kids.

 

Low or No Prep Backyard Activities for Young Kids

Click through to read more.

These low or no prep backyard activities use household items, are great for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners. Great for play-based learning!

Filed Under: Play-Based Learning Activities, Posts Tagged With: backyard ideas, outdoor activities, play-based learning strategies, preschool activities, sensory play, summer activities

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Hi! I'm Alana. When I'm not nursing cold, stale coffee, I usually can be found with the baby on my hip, barefoot, and racing after my two older kids. Thanks to a degree in psychology and a free-range childhood backing onto an expansive evergreen forest, positive parenting and play-based learning are my passions. Read more here.

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THIS. 🙌🙌 (Follow Maryfairy Boberry) THIS. 🙌🙌 (Follow Maryfairy Boberry)
👣 via @creativechildmag 👣

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via Happy as a Mother 🙂❤ via Happy as a Mother 🙂❤
Though there are countless people who understand t Though there are countless people who understand the importance of positive, responsive parenting, the idea that young children should self-soothe remains a prevalent belief.

Though this ideology is well-intentioned, it actually goes against what we know about human development.

Babies come into the world highly dependent on responsive caregiving not only for nurturance and protection but also to foster social and emotional development.

While it may seem that leaving a child to cry will help her learn to cope, it actually floods her brain with cortisol. She doesn’t learn to self-soothe but instead to shut down.

Though it may seem counterintuitive to some, independence is fostered through responsive care. The less stressed a child feels, the safer he feels to explore his world. The less stressed he feels, the more appropriate his emotional responses become.

This is first seen in late infancy but pervades through childhood and adulthood.

Have any questions about these findings? Feel free to comment below or send me a message!
❤️❤️❤️❤️ Teach Through Love ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Teach Through Love
via @unconditional_parenting. via @unconditional_parenting.
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😂 😂
So often independence and attachment are thought t So often independence and attachment are thought to be mutually exclusive.
However, research shows that in order for children (and adults) to be independent, they need to feel safe and secure within their closest relationships. In childhood, this means having caregivers who respond to distress and both emotional and physical needs.
In adulthood, people who have responsive and caring partners feel more stable and comfortable being independent.
So hold and comfort those babies.
Hug and respond to your kids.
Love and hold space for the adults you are closest to.
Attachment fosters independence.
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via Domari Dickinson via Domari Dickinson
🙏🙏🙏 (Couldn't help but laugh at that last 🙏🙏🙏
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"This year, I changed my assessments by adding a p "This year, I changed my assessments by adding a piece of paper at the end, asking, 'What else do you know about the topic, that I didn’t ask you about?'

Another teacher suggested this idea online about a year ago – I wish I could remember who it was! – and I thought, 'BOOM. I want to do this.'

Answering the question is completely optional, and when students do show more understanding on the sheet than they did on their assessment, I’ll point it out to them. Sometimes I’ll write, 'The learning wasn’t shown in your assessment, but I can see you do know this from what you wrote at the end.'

Afterward, I’ll follow up with them about how to recognize and answer test questions asked in different ways. Clearly, in cases like this, they understand the material but aren’t able to formulate an answer in response to the way I posed the question. I’ll point out to them that while it’s great that they’ve shown me their learning, they won’t always have a chance to answer assessment questions in an open-ended way, and I want them to succeed when they encounter assessment-style questions in the future.

I love what this change has done. This strategy has made my assessments more inclusive. It helps me communicate to my students: When I assess your understanding, I’m looking for what you DO know."
—Teacher Julie Arsenault via @teacher2teacher
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