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In All Four Observations The Play Is Initiated By Children, Not By Adults; ...

In all four observations the play is initiated by children, not by adults; for all that, two of the most popular activities in the outdoor environment are building of castles in the sand tray and climbing the frame (other children's activities include riding scooters and bikes and reading).

In some cases such a child-initiated activity is more preferable than the teacher-initiated activity. However, it is also crucial for educators to plan outdoor activities, as planning may cover those aspects that are neglected in spontaneous interactions (DeBord et al., 2002). This especially regards those activities that are connected with counting, drawing, reading and writing, but it is necessary that every pre-planned activity should be dynamic and challenging. In view of the received findings, Table 2 summarises advantages of the children-adult interaction in the outside setting.
Table 2. Benefits of the interaction between children and adults in the outdoor environment
Analysing the adult-child interaction in four observations of the research, it is obvious that the interaction refers to six learning aspects identified in the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (DfEE/QCA, 2000):
1) Personal, emotional and social development
a) educators teach children to work in a group; e.g. in the observation 3 Adult A shows children how to build the train track and then play with the train. Children perform this activity one after another. It is also possible to teach children how to ride a bicycle in the outside environment; children may be divided into two groups, and a contest may be arranged between the groups.

b) educators gradually initiate new activities, and, with their help, children learn to master the acquired skills. In the observation 4 Adult B observes how children make water-bubbles; the teacher approaches them and proposes children to count the bubbles. Adult B initiates the counting and children continue the intellectual activity.
c) through the interaction educators teach children how to bear the consequences of their actions and show the negative outcomes of conflicts. For instance, in the observation 2 Adult B watches how Ben and Daniel initiate a conflict over the big spade. As the teacher asks boys who is the first to take the spade, neither of them reveals the truth. So, Adult B takes the spade away, claiming that children will not get it back until they acknowledge the truth. Although Daniel does not openly admit his fault, his behaviour demonstrates that he realises the consequences of his actions. After a while, Daniel and Ben join other children at the sand tray.
2) Communication, language and literacy
a) in movement games adults communicate with children, helping them to improve their motion vocabulary. In the observation 1 Adult A communicates with the child who is moving to the climbing frame.


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