Our outside area
Outdoors
At Rockinghorse we are blessed with a large outdoor area which we are able to use throughout the year to promote the physical well-being of the children and engage them in activities which enhance their understanding of the natural environment.
Children have the opportunity to grow plants and vegetables. The home-grown vegetables, and apples picked from our tree, are used in a variety of seasonal cooking activities. Conkers that fall from our tree always prove popular for sorting, counting and rolling in paint. In the Autumn the children enjoy creating leaf prints and crunching through the fallen leaves as they collect them in the wheelbarrows. Splashing in puddles when it rains or building snowmen and sledging in the winter are other opportunities that our outdoor areas provides.
Using loose parts and exploring the fascinating shapes of the trunks and branches in the hedges enable the children to engage in den building and offer a variety of role-play opportunities which promote personal, physical and social interactions as well as communication and language. The mud kitchen provides another area for the children to use their imaginations as they create potions and recipes which can be 'cooked' and 'served' on the cable reel 'tables'.