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Bluebell
30-05-2016, 11:44 PM
I am restarting childminding in september after a break and have decided to rearrange my garden a bit. I just wondered how you all do it?

I have a flat concrete area at the bottom which is ideal for ride-on cars and i have my sand pit and water play here too. If we do outside painting we can paint the floor or the walls here too.
At the other half of my garden is more of a garden area with plants and I have an area that children can make mud pies - there is loads of mud and a kitchen and pots and pans.

In the past I have always been really laid back about the mud, water and sand getting mixed up - i was happy to encourage children to play freely and explore but it just means the water and the sand get disgusting really quickly and I end up buying more sand! The children naturally come to the water to fill up pots and pans to fill up and make their soil muddy and make all sorts of concoctions and inevitable the sand ends up getting used too.

I was thinking of moving the water to where the mud pie making is - as water naturally goes here - and it doesn't matter as water can be rinsed away and replaced but keeping the sand at the bottom as a separate play area - would this work and how do you restrict it - do you restrict it??

Is there anything else you recommend as a must have garden item? I've got some outdoor chairs and have been known to set up an obstacle course with old tyres and planks of wood or a tent/den area. I have a really small garden so we tend to go to parks, woods, beach a lot to run around and play but the children always seem happy pottering. I have an all-in-one downstairs area so the children can pretty much come in and out as they please and I can see all of them at any one time.

sarah707
31-05-2016, 06:40 AM
We don't mind the children moving things around - but I agree it can get really messy!! It's tricky when you have little transporters as well!!

I'd try a few different ways of setting it out - some will work better for older / younger children depending on the mixture you have.

Observe - assess how it's being used - consult the children - change things! :D

Maza
31-05-2016, 07:40 AM
I also don't mind them mixing things up - they learn so much from it. However, I wouldn't want them mixing mud into the sand because I can't keep replacing it above and beyond what you would normally expect. I don't mind puddles in the sand tray - I can tip out excess water and the rest can dry out. I do limit the amount of water that they have available though because I think they should be mindful about wasting water, whilst still having fun with it.

If they are making mud/water concoctions, could you put a lid on the sand tray? Maybe build up natural resources so that they have other 'ingredients' available to put into their mud pies - there are some lovely pinecones around at the moment. Have some baskets/containers close by containing stones, leaves etc. That way your little transporters will still be catered for.

I think in all the years I have only had one child who wanted to involve the sand in her concoctions. She was a friend's child - not a mindee. I just asked her not to use the sand and directed her towards the stuff that she could use, explaining why. I never invited her back because that summed up her whole attitude to play and her respect for things in my house. For some reason the mindees have never really ever attempted to use the sand in a way which would ruin it. We wouldn't let them tip a jigsaw into the mud and so there's no reason why we shouldn't stop them from tipping sand into mud. They can make different types of pies in the sand, using clean, removable items.

mama2three
31-05-2016, 03:29 PM
Im fortunate to have a large garden and have a couple of water zones , one next to the sand pit. Ive avoided the whole mud kitchen fashion though - I really arent a fan of having mud everywhere! They use lots and lot of natural resources , but my digging area is sand not soil!
I focus a lot on loose parts play and so they are encouraged to move things around . i agree with Maza and the children have a self dispense container ( old tea urn) of water but know that when its gone its gone...they learn to use it carefully rather than waste it.

FloraDora
31-05-2016, 07:39 PM
Im fortunate to have a large garden and have a couple of water zones , one next to the sand pit. Ive avoided the whole mud kitchen fashion though - I really arent a fan of having mud everywhere! They use lots and lot of natural resources , but my digging area is sand not soil!
I focus a lot on loose parts play and so they are encouraged to move things around . i agree with Maza and the children have a self dispense container ( old tea urn) of water but know that when its gone its gone...they learn to use it carefully rather than waste it.

I agree...loose parts bring far more dimension to an outdoor kitchen type play. I have what I call an outdoor kitchen, mud rarely goes near it ...if it does its in small batches ( we have digging areas for mud play). Loose natural materials are available in baskets and we re sort them at the end of play which is good early maths.

The sand issue : I give them an amount of sand sometimes in the kitchen ...and like Maza says, a simple explanation of if you use this sand up in the sand tray there won't be sand to play with...usually gives them their boundaries and they play in the sand separately.

I too give limited water for play which means they do think about what they are doing with it.

We do a lot of gardening play and I have a gardening bench that they and I use daily with pots and seeds and plants that need either planting out or potting up to a bigger pot ....or they just fill pots with soil and put them around the garden with the loose materials in!

I find the positioning in my garden depends on the weather...in sunshine we do things in the shaded areas so I don't have set up areas. My garden is mine as I don't have children at home now so most things are put out and take in daily and the children do this as everything is stored at their height and reach in the shed or small greenhouse shelving.

Encouraging wildlife is a focus in my garden too...so bug hotels, bird / squirrel feeding stations and planting to encourage butterflies and bees etc....is as important in my planning as sand and water play. We are going to set up a small water tub after the holiday to do our own pond dipping ...and to house Min laws water Lilly ....H&S risk assessment completed!

samb
31-05-2016, 09:36 PM
I haven't got fixed stations as such so I can get things in and out and so can the children. I have an undercover area with a homemade chalk board here but other than that I move things. It's very wet here at the moment so I had my "bench" which is basically a shelf unit that I hacked around til I got something to use for role play. Today I put baskets of natural materials the children collected on outings last week and the outdoor kitchen items (saucepan, roasting tins, colander etc). They used them to make "rock cake" and "catkin pie".

I have smaller tubs for sand and water at the moment. And I don't mind if they mix things up but again I don't replenish if it gets used up quickly. I have to say we ie soil for planting but not really play. I am considering adding a tub of soil to the concoction.

In terms of layout- I have a fenced decked area (with non slip matting which I set up activities at a table or have set up for non walkers to protect them from balls/ride ons etc), a grassy area with a path, a hard standing area under cover and then I have a row with 2 sheds and a large. Walk through poly tunnel. Behind it I have a strip of about 3 metre deep land which I am considering turning into a messy play zone that can only be accessed through the poly tunnel and call it the secret garden... I haven't quite decided.

The only static things are my trampoline which is for my children only and a bush which underneath ha a fairy garden and to the side has 2 tyres - 1 is full of slate and is for the dinosaurs and the other I am thinking of having shingle in there with diggers.

Bluebell
02-06-2016, 07:11 PM
thank you so much for your replies!! I think I will keep the sand pit separate on the concrete end of the garden and have the messy play at the opposite end of the garden - not that its a very bog garden but still big enough to have different areas! Think I will have a bucket and pots that have sand in and other resources that can be used - leaves and grass is always popular and twigs so that is all easy enough!

:)