Outdoor Play – It’s not just throwing stones, we are learning

As kids we used to say “you are a townie” if when you reached water you immediately started throwing stones into it. (We meant that rural kids wouldn’t get that excited about water but if you lived in the city it would be a great novelty).  We definitely don’t live in a city or town and we couldn’t live much closer to water unless we lived on it, but you will find us frequently throwing stones into the water.  Luath loves it and actually there is a lot of learning going on. 

20 things we are learning while we throw stones

Nature
 
Hands on – feeling different textures and temperatures of objects
Observing surroundings - lots to see and talk about
Weather – experiencing rain, wind, sun, fog…
Language skills
Lots of opportunity for new words, phrases, descriptions
Maths

Big/little
Heavy/Light
Counting
Comparing/matching
Science

Displacement – of water as stone hits
Gravity
Sound – different noise depending on stone size and water depth
Energy – kinetic energy from the stone produces ripples
Float or sink – throwing different objects
Timing
Throwing on the count of three
Fine motor skills

Picking up small objects = with bare hands, gloves and mittens
Manipulating objects in both left and right hands
Gross motor skills

Balancing
Bending
Throwing – underhand, overhand, unilateral, bilateral, aiming
Multi tasking
Balancing, bending turning and picking - in Luath's case also usually while talking

And the most important thing is that it is fun.
(Luath is 27 months)
Shared with Outdoor Play link up via Learning for Life see other outdoor play ideas linked up