Our Values of Outdoor Play 

All learning at Bradley, is inclusive and meets the needs of all children. 

We believe that learning outside is as important as learning inside.  

We aim to provide a well-designed and organised environment.  This will be full of irresistible stimuli, context for play, exploration and talk. There will be plenty of real experiences and contact with the natural world.  

The environment will provide safe but stimulating opportunities that inspire children to take risks and challenge themselves. 

All children need positive, enthusiastic and attentive adults that understand the importance of engaging and interacting outside.  They recognise how to create opportunities for learning, will join in with children’s play and encourage them to be independent, resilient and curious learners. 

Blue and Green Outdoor Classroom

Our large, well equipped outdoor classroom is used by our Blue and Green Nursery rooms. It offers a variety of contexts in which children can learn and explore on a large scale. 

Our large sand house provides lots of opportunities for children to learn and explore. The children have a range of equipment that they can access independently to support their learning across a wide range of curriculum areas. 

In our sand house the children learn how to transport sand in different ways using pipes, buckets and pulley systems. Our children also enjoy in imaginative play using the sand kitchen resources and small world vehicles. 

Large scale sand play offers a wealth of opportunities for children develop their thinking skills as they use and adapt their own ideas when making marvelous creations independently and when collaborating with others. 

Our large artificial grass space enables children to take part in a range of physical activities and games in all weathers. The space is versatile and can be used in a variety ways to provide the children with new challenges and space to learn new skills.

Children can access a variety of animals, vehicles and natural object to create their own imaginary worlds. Children enjoy retelling favourite stories and making up their own adventures with their friends and independently. 

In our outdoor cafe the children enjoy using loose parts such as sticks, pine cones and stones to invent their own meals! The children enjoy transporting water and sand from other areas of our outdoor classroom and combine them all using their own ideas. 

Claire's corner is a special space to enjoy exploring favourite books. It is named after our very special, former headteacher Claire Lucas. 

Children love to explore climbing and moving in different ways on our large climbing equipment. The children use their own ideas and available resources to engage a wide range of activities using this open ended climbing area. Children have opportunities to pull up on the large equipment and make marks by 'flogging' mud with branches. These are all important experiences to develop children's upper body muscles and arm strength which helps to support the children with the skills they need to make marks and write. 

Our children have lots of opportunities to explore nature as they plant seeds and flowers and regularly help to care for them. 

Another favourite part of our outdoor classroom space is the area for water play. Children independently transport water from the outside tap using a variety of watering cans, buckets and bottles. Through water play our children develop their learning skills. They become curious as they explore equipment using their senses. They develop their resilience as they investigate and persist with challenging equipment such as how to transport water with water pumps. They think critically as they use their own ideas and adapt their plans when transporting water using the different lengths of guttering. 

In our large track space the children enjoy developing their coordination and physical skills as they learn to use a range of wheeled vehicles including trikes and balance bikes. The children can also have times of rest and quiet in our willow tunnel and den. The bridge and natural pathway provide opportunities for further challenge and sensory exploration. Our children love to collaborate in this space as they work with friends and share ideas. 

Yellow Nursery Outdoor Classroom 

Our Yellow Outdoor classroom is used by our 2-3 year old children. It offers a wide variety of play experiences for the children to explore and investigate.

The children in Yellow Nursery love to explore the sand shed. They enjoy climbing in to the sand, making marks and filling containers on a large scale. We learn to work together and take turns when using the resources and when making huge sand castles together. 

Our artificial turf and soft play surfaces enable the children to develop a range of physical skills. Our children explore moving in a variety of ways, climbing up ladders and the climbing crest and using a range of balls and hoops. The space is often changed to ensure the children are challenged to try new things. They love to create their own obstacle courses too using loose parts such as barrels, cable reels, balancing beams and milk crates. 

The digging area enables the children to find out about living things. We often find lots of worms, woodlice and spiders hiding in the soil. The children are fascinated as they watch the minibeasts move in different ways. We also practice balancing stones and logs and enjoy digging and filling containers with soil too. 

Our children have access to a variety of one, two, three and four wheeled toys. Developing the skills to balance, propel themselves with their feet and negotiate space are developed as we explore these toys each day. 

The stone pit and planted tyres are open ended and allow children to use their imaginations as they explore the small world animals, dinosaurs and vehicles. This area is filled with a variety of textures and scents for the children to explore and find out more about their natural world. The children love clambering over the logs and through the willow tunnel too. 

Our water area enables the children to explore and transport water on a large scale. It is very popular! The children love to fill and empty buckets and containers of various sizes. They are supported to develop their creative and critical thinking skills as they explore ways to use the water pumps and basters and transport water using the pipes. The children love to splash and we often have a car washing session where the children clean using the buckets, sponges and mops.

Filled with pots, pans, utensils and lots of mud, the children enjoy using this space to act out home life as they create their favourite meals. The children learn so many new communication, mathematical and creative skills as they explore this area alongside nursery practitioners. Children are dressed in waterproof clothing and wellies to enable them to enjoy this area in all weather conditions. 

In addition to the provision above our children have access to a number of baskets of resources that they can use to enhance their learning and play.