Lesson 3: Outdoor Safety Attention
Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able
Teaching Read Chapter 4 Children are spending more time indoors than ever. It is increasingly important for early childhood educators to incorporate and encourage outdoor play. In the book Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv (http://richardlouv.com/books/last-child) discusses the lack of attachment new generations of children have with our natural environment. He refers to this issue as “nature deficit disorder”. How will this effect these future caretakers of our world? Will they respect and care for our natural resources or disregard and destroy them? Adults need to role model healthy behaviors and provide ample time for children to explore and interact with nature. It is also important to keep children safe while allowing them as much freedom as possible out of doors to explore. Teachers should always have children within sight on the playground and should be attentive to their needs. The Maine Rules for the Licensing of Child Care Facilities (www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules/10/148/148c032.doc) lists regulations for monitoring children as well as playground safety requirements. There are also rules about water safety and lifeguard requirements. When designing an outdoor play space, you must keep age and developmental appropriateness in mind. Toddler areas should look different from preschool areas, but if you have a combined age group you will need to incorporate various structures and toys to engage all children while keeping them safe. Children need room to run, structures that encourage upper body strength, balance, and gross motor development as well as sand and/or water play. This NAEYC article has more information on the development of proper outdoor spaces. https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200801/BTJNatureErickson.pdf Assessment Lesson 3 Quiz Lesson Quizzes will consist of material from the lesson, the discussions, and from assigned reading. Questions will be True/False, Multiple Choice, and Short Answer. Be sure to review all the Lesson and Reading material prior to starting this quiz. Lesson 3 Discussion Imagine you could design your dream outdoor space for children! Select ONE specific special toy or equipment you would want to include. This should be something that reflects your unique interests and notions of outdoor play. Explain why this would be a great feature. How would you ensure that it is a safe toy or equipment? Refer to the Maine Rules for Licensing and NAEYC.
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