Bobby explores the park Scroll to learning area

5 month old Bobby is at the park with her mum. They spend time watching what is going on, watching the people plants and animals in the park. We look at how this is developing her senses, specifically her vision, and how it’s building up her knowledge of the world. She explores natural materials at a small stream, stimulating her senses further.

Good for looking at

• Learning outdoors
• Baby development
• Development of the senses
• Development of vision
• Development of touch
• Understanding the world
• Parents
• Tuning in
• Effective adult support

Organisation

Going for very small walks in the locality just beyond the home or setting are clearly of great value and importance for babies.

• What enables or limits these in your provision?
• How could organisation be changed to increase the amount that the locality and community are part of your outdoor provision? Include in your discussions the value of pusher-facing pushchairs.

Parents

Babies need to investigate with their mouths as it provides the most sensitive and meaningful information, so there is a need for high vigilance but not overprotection. Dirt and germs as a health concern is a difficult issue which has to be carefully discussed within the team and with parents.

• How do we enable babies to explore in a safe-as-necessary way? Is ‘dirt’ okay for babies and where is the boundary for safe-enough (as opposed to safe-as-possible) practice)?

Men are often more comfortable with physical and silly play and more inclined to play in this way to meet the rough & tumble and ‘dizzy’ play needs of babies, especially boys.

• Do your parents (including fathers) understand this need and what are their views about touch and ‘rough’ play?