Garden Play
Literacy can be found everywhere outside of the home but it is not until you start looking that you will find it. Letters, numbers and symbols can be found everywhere and we should take this as an opportunity to discuss children’s knowledge and expand it. Point out these types of literacy and ask your children if they recognise them, and if they don’t, use it as a chance to learn something new.
The most simple objects found in your garden can inspire kids to engage in dramatic play, making up pretend worlds and their own rules. They use their imagination, and role play activities they have seen other people do such as mowing the lawn, cooking the barbecue, driving the car, hanging out the washing, planting flowers or weeding the garden. When their environment is filled with letters, numbers and symbols they are not just playing and exploring but acquiring knowledge of the world around them, how it is represented and how to communicate to others within it. Literacy is everywhere and can be added to any play experience to enrich it.
As well as the common literacy found in the garden, many things can be added to provide a new experience for children. Just try thinking of any prop or tool that contains words, letters or symbols and this can be turned into a learning experience for your child outside.
In addition to all of these experiences you can bring any toys or games that you would usually play inside the house into the garden to re-invent the experience. Set up a drawing table, home corner, blocks or dress ups outside and the kids will play with these toys like they’ve never seen them before because by seeing them in a new setting it is like seeing them with new eyes. By simply changing the environment you can open up your children’s minds to play with the same toys in new and different ways that they hadn’t even considered before!
 Credit: Hillbilly Jillies Make A Worm Farm And Document It! All children love running around in the garden and making a mess, so why not take five-minutes to make a worm farm? The kids can document the worms’ movements, take photos, drawings, making a chart, anything they like, to keep a record of their recently acquired treasure from their outdoor adventure! |
 Credit: Chloe Front Garden In the front yard children may recognise the word ‘Mail’ and their street number on the letter box. They can be encouraged to collect the mail, recognise who it’s addressed to and even company logos. Kids can collect the pamphlets, brochures, newspaper, yellow pages and even the Avon catalogue left on the front porch and engage with the words and pictures. People may have signs on their gates saying things like ‘Please close gate’, ‘Beware of dog’ or ‘No junk mail’. |
 Credit: An Everyday Story Storytelling Basket Mostly children have interest in particular story books which they usually love to listen and read. Story telling basket is an activity which can be set up in the garden in the basket or simple in garden. And let children allow to retell already heard story in this way they will experience literacy practices which may be higher than their normal skills and development. |
 Credit: Chloe Back Garden In the backyard many people have an assortment of statues, ornaments, stones and decorations that may display sayings like ‘Home Sweet Home’. Some people have mats saying ‘Welcome’ or ‘Please wipe your feet’ and many people keep tags and signs in their potted plants to remember which is which. |
 Credit: Chloe Walking Around Walking around outside you can find words and symbols on the hot water system, warning symbols on lawnmowers and liquids you might find in the shed, letters on license plates, numbers on clocks and padlocks, and measurements on things like watering cans, spray bottles and water tanks. You can also find instructions and dials with numbers on the family barbecue. |
 Credit: Chloe Biking Around Kids may also have pedal cars or bikes in every shape and size ranging from race cars to taxis and emergency vehicles and you can discuss the different words and symbols to differentiate them all. These cars often have speedometers, fuel gauges, petrol pumps and gear sticks full of words an numbers a child can learn to recognise. Helmets often also have stickers and safety warnings. |
 Credit: Chloe Thermometer Try a thermometer and water catcher and encourage the children to read the markings and keep track of the weather every day. |
 Credit: Chloe Vegetable Patch Start a veggie patch and encourage your kids to read the instructions on the seedling packet or keep the insert from a potted plant and put it in the ground too. Use the measurements on a watering can or spray bottle to monitor how much water they are getting. Start a growth chart for things like tomatoes and measure how high they grow as they climb their picket. |
 Credit: PartyBits2Go Outdoor Picnic Set up a picnic outside and read all the labels on the food and drink items. Read the wash instructions on the picnic blanket and the Tupperware containers. |
 Credit: BobbyRabbit Outdoor Cafe Create an outdoor café just like you would with a restaurant inside the house. Make your own menus and signs and even a cash register and let the kids pretend to be waiters, chefs and customers. |
 Credit: Courier Mail Market Stall Encourage the kids to start their own market stall like they have probably seen at fetes or carnivals and ask them what they would like to sell. They could make something like jewellery or lemonade or even sell toys and items from around the house. They can make a sign for their business and even make pretend money. |
 Credit: Apple Park Treasure Hunt Design a treasure hunt for your kids complete with a treasure map and treasure chest buried in the garden. Encourage them to read the symbols or pictures on the map or leave clues around the yard that eventually lead them to the treasure. You can use words or pictures or even riddles that they have to decipher depending on the age level of the child. |
 Credit: Amazon Sandpit City Encourage the kids to create their own city in the sandpit complete with roads, houses, shops and people. Include traffic lights, road signs and any other symbols found in their everyday world to add to their experience. |
 Credit: Cambridge News Pool Games You can buy games to play in the pool that involve finding objects that have sunk to the bottom. You can find coloured rings, numbered discs or plastic letters and you can even challenge your kids to find them in a particular order. |