An outdoor area is a wonderful place for children to run free, ride wheeled toys, push and pull wagons, throw balls, roll down hills, dig, swing, slide, climb, and do all those other things adults caution them against when indoors!  Children demonstrate different abilities in an outdoor setting than they do inside.  It is essential for growth and development, that children have time each day to play in a safe place outdoors.

If there is no outdoor space available consider one of the following:

• develop a roof top outdoor area
• share an outdoor area with a nearby church, school YMCA 
• Take a daily walk around the block with wagons, bikes, and strollers

Outdoors, children enjoy stationary structures for climbing, swinging, and sliding; wheeled toys for pushing and pulling; and loose manipulative materials for exploring, pretending, and building.  Your outdoor should have some of the following:
Stationery Structures

Climbers - jungle gym, net climber; trees with low branches close together
High Places - raised platforms, low tree house, sturdy crates; hills, boulders; tree stumps, snow piles
Swings - commercial swing set, multi-person tire swing; rope swing from tree, low hammock; spring based rocking toys
Slides - commercial slide, hill slide; low ramp. low cable ride; firefighter's pole, sleds for winter
Balances - balance beams; rows of railroad ties, bricks, or rocks arranged in rows (including parallel bars, curving, and zigzag rows)

Wheeled Toys

Tricycles; Scooters; Wagons; Wheelbarrows; Push vehicles with steering wheels; Strollers, carriages
 

Loose Materials

Jumping Equipment - inner tubes, trampolines; old mattress, leaf piles; ropes (to jump over)
Equipment for throwing, kicking, and aiming - balls (all sizes); beanbags; low, basketball hoop and net; pails, buckets, boxes, bull's eye targets
Building Materials - boards of varying lengths; slotted plywood pieces (sanded smooth); styrofoam sheets, boards, packing pieces; cardboard boxes; twine, rope, pulleys; old sheets, blankets, tarps; small sawhorses; tires, inner tubes; workbench and tools
Sand and Water Materials - See "Sand and Water Area" for more materials; sand pit, box, table or tubs; sand, pea gravel, shells, sawdust, wood shavings, leaves, pine cones, snow; wading pool, spigot, hose, hand pump, flexible tubing; spoons, shovels, buckets
Gardening Equipment - garden plot, window boxes, tubs with soil; watering can or hose; gardening tools; seeds, bulbs, flowers, plants
Role Play Props - boat, car, plane, train, spaceship, tractor, hay wagon; dump trucks, bulldozers; mounted steering wheel; playhouse or enclosure (refrigerator box, dense shrubbery); telephone in playhouse or booth, or on pole; mailbox; low clothesline, clothespins; small working flagpole with flags; gas pump handle and hose, empty oil can and spout; binoculars; helmets, hats, goggles, backpacks
Musical Instruments - pipe chimes, wind chimes; dinner bells, sleigh bells, trash-can drums, hollowly drums; slatted fence (to run stick across)
Art Materials - painting canvas made from old sheets, paints; paint rollers, large brushes; bubbles and bubble wands; large-scale weaving frame; sidewalk chalk; clay for imprints of grass, stones, leaves, etc.;  food coloring, sand tools, boxes, cans for snow sculpture
 
 

*Beary* special thanks to

for the wonderful graphics for this page.

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