Dr. Maria Montessori described
daycare children as having an absorbent mind, referencing the fact that kids are born with no inherent knowledge but a strong willingness to discover everything they can about the world they live in.
She also believed that children learn more readily in outdoor and play-based environments. The basic idea was that outdoor activities help fuel those absorbent minds with a wide variety of information that can be applied in other aspects of their lives.
1. Outdoor Treasure Hunts
Hiding items around the playground, park, or backyard gives
Montessori daycare children an opportunity to hone a few developmental advantages. Searching for objects helps them develop critical thinking skills and build both fine and gross motor skills through movement. Treasure hunts can carry over to academic activities as well by having children learn to draw maps to hidden items, follow maps to find things, and learn how to spell and write the names of objects they find in their outdoor adventures.
2. Playground Benefits
Running, jumping, and climbing are a few ordinary outdoor activities that provide excellent benefits by developing fine and gross motor skills. Additionally, just spending time outside has been shown to increase children’s health, and decades of research show that outdoor activity is good for growing healthy eyes, bones, muscles, and brains in small children.
3. Promoting Social Interactions
In their early years, daycare children are only beginning to understand concepts like sharing and taking turns. Outdoor time playing physical games with other children promotes the development of these critical social skills. People are social creatures, but young children are still learning how social interactions work and how to properly participate. It takes time and practice to learn how to ask for permission, share things willingly, and work together to accomplish goals.
4. Communication and Vocabulary
Getting outdoors helps children develop a strong vocabulary by introducing them to new things and ideas. Learning to identify different flowers, trees, and birds, for example, adds to your child’s knowledge base, teaches her to pronounce new words, and hones a variety of other communication skills.
From eyesight to writing, outdoor time is an ideal opportunity to expand the potential of daycare children. As they play, they learn and develop important muscular functions. No matter what little children are engaged in outdoors, it will be something that sharpens skills ranging from fine motor control to critical thinking.
