Play & Exploration Project-Let’s Talk Outdoors!

The Play and Exploration Project was developed by Medway Early Years and Childcare Quality Team to support settings and schools, whatever their challenges or stage of development, to provide an exciting and challenging space for children to explore and learn in.  As an Early Years Regional Adviser for The National Strategies, Gail was able to provide additional expertise, setting visits, and support to the Medway team and the practitioners involved in the project.

The Play and Exploration Project initially focussed on

• supporting practitioners in reflecting on their current outdoor provision and how well it offers high quality experiences for their children.

• working with practitioners to explore ways in which to involve children in the process of developing the outdoors.

• facilitating a professional dialogue on what constitutes an enabling outdoor environment.

Two waves of the project were successfully delivered with thirty settings involved in each project.  The Play and Exploration Project (PEP) then evolved further to support the implementation of the Every Child a Talker programme -a national Government funded programme of support for the development of early language and communication skills in children from birth to five years.

The Play and Exploration Project -Let’s talk Outdoors focussed on

• The unique value of the outdoors in stimulating communication skills.

• The best outdoor activities and resources for motivating and supporting children’s use of language.

• The practitioners’ role in supporting communication skills.

Gail provided expert support to the project’s professional development training package through

• A seminar  Let’s Talk: Outdoors! – this launch event aimed to engage practitioners interest and set the context of the project by introducing the unique values of outdoors in stimulating communication skills, and consideration of the adult role in engaging children.

• A practical workshop session to explore activities and resources for motivating and supporting the children’s use of language.