It is imperative that we must reinforce children’s sense of belonging through a conducive environment that should be beautiful, soothing, full of wonder and discovery, so that children feel intrigued, respected, and eager to learn in it. Nature is a great teacher and has bestowed us with ample of loose materials for children to play with and learn from. There are various open-ended resources like leaves, petals, twigs, and pebbles, to aid a child’s physical, social, emotional and cognitive development.
(2 years- 4 years & 5 years- 7 years)
Gather up some rocks or pebbles from around the neighborhood and set of alphabet rocks by painting letters on each rock with acrylic paint. Choose a variety of colors or make a set of capital letters in one color, lowercase letters in another.
The older children can make words out of these letters (word game).
Encourage the younger ones to count items like trees, flowers, birds.
Complicate this for the older ones by asking them to find the ratio of trees to residents living in your community or by asking them to measure the cricket ground or badminton court using their feet.
You might consider a permanent fixture such as a music wall with old pots and pans.
Allow children a space to get creative to make a mural or use recycled materials to create a art piece.
Assign a small patch for children to grow their own herbs.
