Many of the children in all our 3 rooms enjoy hike time over to our natural play area. There the children explore our beach area complete with sand, cobbles, water wall and water, our campsite with mud kitchen, music wall, tree stumps, loose parts and open ended structures, and our secret garden with flower beds for digging and planting.

Our youngest children in the Exploring room often show excitement when they hear the words hike time. Many of our children in the Exploring room have not yet developed enough verbal language skills to put this into words but instead communicate their delight with smiles, chuckles and squeals.

We often prepare some of our children in the Exploring room for their walk by helping them to put on their outdoor waterproof clothing, their hats and hoods to keep them warm. By bringing the children in the Exploring room over to our natural play space we introduce the children to a different type of environment which opens opportunities for meeting different people and doing new things.

Our natural play area covers a large space which the children are encouraged to explore and roam. Some of the children in the Exploring room that have big brothers and sisters in the Adventure or the Discovery rooms also get to spend some time with their siblings as the children interact with each other in the outdoor area.

Many of the younger children seem to be drawn to our music wall complete with wall mounted pots and pans which some like to run their hands over to make some noise. Others like investigating the plants and trees often pulling at branches and leaves. Walking on the cobbles also makes its own special type of music as well as challenging the children’s developing balance and co-ordination skills.

Every hike time opens more learning opportunities as the children’s competence and confidence in their own special skills and interests continues to grow and develop. We feel so lucky to have such wonderful outdoor space here at Crawford Childcare.