Outdoor Learning and Play

Our little outdoor critter friends can be an endless source of awe and wonder for children young and old. This fascination can inspire such wonderful conversation and sustained shared thinking which can nurture communication and language development. We can engage in talk about size, shape, colours, the number of legs or spots, differences between the minibeasts we have found and...

Autumn is firmly here - even if the weather occasionally decides to go back up to 20 degrees! Autumn is one of our favourite seasons here at Cosy. The weather is turning a little bit more chill, a new school year begins, and the cosy evenings of the 'ber months are upon us. We particularly love what autumn has to...

After a brief hiatus the Cosy blog is back, and we have some very exciting new things to share with you! We've been working away behind the scenes on an exciting new project to help you make planning your indoor and outdoor spaces a breeze, and this week, we’re thinking about all things outdoor classroom. Why they’re important, what makes...

By CreativeSTAR Around my home town, there are some horse chestnut trees which always have a good supply of conkers. They are a much sought after fruit with children looking for and commenting on the availability of the conkers. I now plot some of my walks to pass these trees at this time of year. Conkers hide themselves remarkably well...

Written by Creative STAR Investigating reflections is one way into symmetry and can be linked to scientific and artistic explorations. Back in the outdoor space, more specific experiences can be provided for young children based upon their own discoveries in play. Various reflective surfaces can be created or found. If an outdoor space is being developed think about making symmetrical...

By Kimberly Lawson Your mental health and wellbeing matters and I remember when I was striving to be a successful early years practitioner I would attend courses, read books and reflect on my teaching daily in setting. Yet none of this had the impact I desired when I didn’t have the tools I needed to look after my own mental...

The dreary, dismal weather has been a clear indicator that we’re well into autumn now. In fact, winter is peeping around the corner, ready for us with chilly days, frosty starts and possibly snow. For some, this might signal an end to the enjoyment that the outdoors brings during the spring and summer. Although it might be colder and wetter...

By Juliet Robertson This blog post was originally written in June 2010. Although there is no doubt that the outdoor space will now look very different, the idea of a community celebration of the outdoor space is a great way of enabling children and their families to meet and enjoy the outdoor space. Very often, parents who are very busy...

I am aware that confusion and controversy exists around the use of tyres. I hope this blog post is informative and helpful so that adults who work with children can make sensible decisions based upon their own specific context. It has been written in good faith based upon material I can find out and my own experiences of working outside with...

One of my favourite school memories is of playing on a large, wooden cable reel on our school field. We loved the challenge of balancing and walking as it rolled along and would keep trying until we got it right. It was risky play, but so much fun.  And that’s the beauty of large loose parts. They’re open ended and...