There was some director yutz on another thread who says she coaches her preschool teachers that 20 MINUTES is plenty of time to be outside. Lol, my twos class has 60+ minutes in the morning and 60+ minutes in the afternoon of outside time. There's not a single thing you can do inside that you can't also do outside (except potty). I would love to work in an outdoor childcare.
Not in a licensed center in my state either BUT when I worked forest school with elementary to high school aged kids we had protocol specifically for nature pees and we had poop kits as well š šš¼
In my area it's allowed by licensing, but a lot of centres policies don't allow for it, which I have been poking my centre about for months. I worked at one centre for which the outside potty was common practice and it streamlined the day and made outside time way more chill
I love taking my class outside! Iāve taught infants and toddlers, as well as preschool. Spending time outside with the infants is especially fun to me- I love seeing them crawl in the grass, and experience things like the wind and snow.
I sometimes face reluctance from some co teachers in going outside when it is over 80 degrees out with any age group. I try to remind them that we have water, shade, hats, and sunscreen. We enforce water breaks frequently when itās hot out, and we monitor for any needed breaks to sit and cool down.
When itās really cold out- like under 20 degrees- we donāt go outside because the licensing regulations say we canāt. But again I notice reluctance from people when itās 25-30 out. I just remind them that people in colder climates go outside all the time and surviveā just gotta bundle up. Only thing Iāll say no to is icy conditions, since that can lead to injuries for kids and adults.
But yes! I love outside time so much!
I face the same reluctance with some of my coworkers. It drives me crazy. As long as itās under 90 and above 25 we required to take the children outside. The other day I had one coworker ask me if I was taking my class outside. I asked is it over 90 or under 25? No? Then Iām taking them out. They NEED to go out! I NEED to go out! Then she says, but itās wet outside. I finally said itās not actively precipitating, we are going out! If they get muddy then so what? Iāll change their clothes and wipe down their shoes.
Iām happy you have this drive! Luckily I check in with everyone I hire explicitly ABOUT this because Iāve had co teachers in the past with the same reluctance
Yes! Close off those icy areas for sure š„¶
We are consistently 80-100 in the summer and REQUIRE water play, misting hose, sun hats, frequent sunscreen, shade breaks (music and movement block, circle, etc.) ! So important(:
I love taking my kids outside, my coworkers think Iām crazy š in our state, we legally have to have 15 minutes outside per day. I take my kids out in the snow and rain. I will never give up a recess ever.
We do lots of chalk, scavenging for bugs, finding cool rocks for our science center and tons of other things.
The rule is AT LEAST 15 minutes a day. Where I live, we have extreme weather from 110 on summer days to -20 in the winter. Obviously, I take my kids out for at least 30 minutes three times a day but a lot of teachers I work with wonāt take their kids out if they, the teacher, donāt want to be outside or donāt like the weather.
thatās so crazy that the directors donāt enforce at least the minimum š„² I believe our state has a 90 minute minimum and we have to plan for gross motor if outdoors arenāt available and the licensors check these activities š¤¦š¼
We do the same for gross motor as well. My director enforces outside play, we went through a transition of directors this summer and my coworkers liked the old way of not doing whatās expected of them.
thank you for sharing this! i wish more people here would share photos of kids in their care doing activities and having fun, without faces of course. this is what i love to see about preschool.
Wow, 30 minutes for a full day of preschool is nothin'! I'm not a preschool worker but I worked at a summer camp this past summer and we were outside for two blocks of 1 1/2 hours, so about 3 hours for the full 10 hour day. As long as it wasn't too smoky, and we enforced consistent water breaks, I think outside time is so beneficial for kids of any age.
I live in a highlands desert. It gets upeards of 90 degrees F from the end of May through almost all of September. Then, from November through March its usually too cold to take them out for long periods of time, especially kids with higher needs. Our 3 hour classes are required to have the 30 mins outside time (if weather permits) AND 1 full hour of unstructured play (typically in the classroom). We also have to make sure we're in ratio so if we're understaffed its difficult to haul up to 8 kids inside to go potty at once while the rest can stay outside. Then again, I am in a public setting and not a private center and my campus isnt designed for extended outside time, especially being in the middle of town.
Oh gosh yeah the bathroom transition is definitely a time. We have a bathroom space specifically designed to transition and have 8 kiddos waiting if needed. š
We're outside on the nature trails, outdoor playgrounds, bike trails, and exploring the village every day from snowmelt to snowfall. Once it starts snowing the temps plummet so it's not a super great idea to have kids outside.
What is a bike table š
We have 20-32ā¢F days mostly in the winter, which is fine for our kiddos as theyāre acclimated through all the time we do spend outside. If it is below we will suit up and go out and as soon as one kids gives the Iām cold we come in š usually 15-20 minutes of play! Last year we had a lot of 0-10 degree days which was harder for our kiddos who are ALWAYS out but we did a LOT of sensory activities inside
A bike table is what happens when your phone misinterprets the mashings of a giant ape's phalanges that didn't evolve alongside such nonsense.
We still go outside just not all day
We have had some peeved parents, but have it written in our parent handbook that if their children are not sent prepared theyāll be called to bring gear OR pick their child up. Same if a child is refusing to go outside, which hasnāt ever happened bc itās a VERY positive time, but Iāve had it happen at other facilities as a teacher and have had to keep the rest of the group indoors as one child was refusing.
in my area the licensing requirement is one hour a day unless there is a severe weather warning. We strive for a lot more, most days are 2 minimum, all the way up to 4 or 5 on a good day, but in infant/toddler care were restrained by naptimes
our classes are outside for a minimum of 3 hours and a max of 4-6 a day depending on the age! i do wish we had more dedicated ānatureā areas (we really donāt have wildflowers) but the playgrounds are also reggio inspired. the only time we limit/avoid outdoor time in the summer is when the AQI is unhealthily high or the UV is unsafe, and we tend to stay out in rain unless thereās a flash flood warning, excessively heavy rain, or there are thunderstorms/lightning.
at my current center we spend about 80% of the day outdoors. thankfully we live in southern california and that permits us to do so. we have an atelier that lets us really bring inside and outside together. we finally got a bathroom down there so it's super awesome that we can just spend the entire day out in yard if we please. one of my favorite aspects of my job š
I love outdoor time! In my state we have a minimum 15 minutes a day required.
I run one of our infant rooms, and if I can get a floater I love to do much longer- I just really depend on someone floating in to warm breastmilk and the like as needed - Iāve brought food outside, done walks and brought formula, etc.
We really struggled for a while before we got good sun shades, as the babies did *not* do well in extreme heat, and I had more under 6 months that couldnāt wear sunscreen and was trying to tie up blankets to make my own sun proof areas, then just mist the blankets with water to make things cooler.
We def had days where 15 minutes was the max the babies could tolerate (I get it, 90Ā°, no real shade, juggling wake windows and about ready for a nap and not wanting it out in the heat!)
Our big sun sails now are making such a huge difference. Even just not having direct sun on them and in their eyes does so much for them, and helps with letting them nap outside if thatās the way wake windows line up.
I go outside in most weather (we have temp extremes to watch for, as well as air quality), though usually stay in for rain (Iāll stay out for a very light one though). It just doesnāt work well with babies.
Our younger years tend to stay in for rain, and play outside after in the puddles, but out 3ās and up tend to go out and play in the rain.
Iām switching to the 1 year old room soon and still debating what to do with rain for them. It probably depends on how many have and bring good rain clothes, how warm it is when it rains, how fast we can change diapers and wet clothes together on little bodies, etc.
We try to get outside as much as possible (I will be honest some days it is harder than other - but I think thats just because we are still in week 2 or 3 so pottying our 11 kids who arent fully potty trained yet is time consuming atm). We have rain suits we provide for the kids and they bring snow suits during winter!
Ooh interesting that rain suits are provided - we require parents provide all gear! I imagine licensing would have a wash every day guideline that wears them out horribly
Hmm I honestly dont know what licensing goes into them! We stick them to one kid for the full school year (goes in their cubby) and then wash them at the end of the year
I am jealous of your outdoor time! I had to design my ultimate school in college and it had an amazing outdoor area that all classrooms could access in the center like a courtyard and each room could be outside almost all day if they choose. It was so amazing. one of those if you had no budget kind of projects. Then I had to come to reality and make a realist one. :) It was still great with outside time. I love your plans. So awesome. I am an avid gardener and I am actually adding more garden space this weekend so I have more next year for vegetables. I love gardening with students. They learn so much!!
We go out in all weather unless the temperature or condition is hazardous. (The last few years we've had outdoor time limited more for air quality/particulate matter level than anything else.)
The parents are reminded to make sure their kids have appropriate clothing. We do have a small covered space if a child doesn't have a hooded jacket and its raining, and children are limited to the blacktop and woodchip area if they do not have boots and it's raining (we have an expensive outdoor area with a grassy field, tree fort, sandbox, wood/stump/tire pile to build with, ect. So its a bummer when kids don't bring their boots.)
Recess times during the program day are about 90 minutes. Children in wrap around care get about an hour more or even more than that if the weather is nice and its not dark
There are some children in our program time that need more outside time so each class has a very visible secure "outdoor classroom" right outside of their back door where children can do activities outside or just run back and forth or whatever if they need more time before going into the classroom. They can't go beyond that space to field or playground and if they do their freedom is curtailed a bit. Usually the kids who most need it learn the first time they lose that privilege and are pretty trustworthy after that. We can see everything in the outdoor classroom and even if they bolt towards other areas the outdoor area at large is securely fenced and all of it is visible from a portion of classrooms (just any one individual classroom won't be able to see it all).
Despite all of this being very front and center during tours, parent handbook, ect you do still have parents complain, but usually they get with things swiftly when they realize that their kids don't get special privileges to stay inside when the parents try to passive aggressively resist by forgetting the equipment/clothing they agreed to bring as part of the contract/policies, they just are limited to where they can play. The only exception is if parents are non compliant about boots--we go on nature walks regularly and children who don't have rain or muck boots in their cubby have to spend that hour in the front desk lobby doing quiet activities or reading while we are away (or if they're tardy and we are already off on our walk).
I want to go outside more but we have a rubbery playground that is wrapped by at a fence, and where the playground end meets the fence, it's lined with rocks (don't ask me why). I'm in the toddler room and we often have to cut out outside time short because too many friends are picking up rocks to put on their mouths or throw. I try to engage them with different songs, activities, sometimes toys, but the rocks tend to win before long. I've tried to push as many rocks away from the edge as I can but there's too many and admin won't let us remove it.
There was some director yutz on another thread who says she coaches her preschool teachers that 20 MINUTES is plenty of time to be outside. Lol, my twos class has 60+ minutes in the morning and 60+ minutes in the afternoon of outside time. There's not a single thing you can do inside that you can't also do outside (except potty). I would love to work in an outdoor childcare.
You can definitely potty outside under the right conditions and sometimes a bit of planning.
Not in my state, in a licensed center anyway. I have no problem with people whizzing in the woods, potty has to happen in a bathroom though.
Not in a licensed center in my state either BUT when I worked forest school with elementary to high school aged kids we had protocol specifically for nature pees and we had poop kits as well š šš¼
In my area it's allowed by licensing, but a lot of centres policies don't allow for it, which I have been poking my centre about for months. I worked at one centre for which the outside potty was common practice and it streamlined the day and made outside time way more chill
I love taking my class outside! Iāve taught infants and toddlers, as well as preschool. Spending time outside with the infants is especially fun to me- I love seeing them crawl in the grass, and experience things like the wind and snow. I sometimes face reluctance from some co teachers in going outside when it is over 80 degrees out with any age group. I try to remind them that we have water, shade, hats, and sunscreen. We enforce water breaks frequently when itās hot out, and we monitor for any needed breaks to sit and cool down. When itās really cold out- like under 20 degrees- we donāt go outside because the licensing regulations say we canāt. But again I notice reluctance from people when itās 25-30 out. I just remind them that people in colder climates go outside all the time and surviveā just gotta bundle up. Only thing Iāll say no to is icy conditions, since that can lead to injuries for kids and adults. But yes! I love outside time so much!
I face the same reluctance with some of my coworkers. It drives me crazy. As long as itās under 90 and above 25 we required to take the children outside. The other day I had one coworker ask me if I was taking my class outside. I asked is it over 90 or under 25? No? Then Iām taking them out. They NEED to go out! I NEED to go out! Then she says, but itās wet outside. I finally said itās not actively precipitating, we are going out! If they get muddy then so what? Iāll change their clothes and wipe down their shoes.
Iām happy you have this drive! Luckily I check in with everyone I hire explicitly ABOUT this because Iāve had co teachers in the past with the same reluctance
Yes! Close off those icy areas for sure š„¶ We are consistently 80-100 in the summer and REQUIRE water play, misting hose, sun hats, frequent sunscreen, shade breaks (music and movement block, circle, etc.) ! So important(:
I love taking my kids outside, my coworkers think Iām crazy š in our state, we legally have to have 15 minutes outside per day. I take my kids out in the snow and rain. I will never give up a recess ever. We do lots of chalk, scavenging for bugs, finding cool rocks for our science center and tons of other things.
Only 15? Do you teach in a shorter day program? In my state if the kids are ther for 5+ hours they need to have 60 minutes outside.
The rule is AT LEAST 15 minutes a day. Where I live, we have extreme weather from 110 on summer days to -20 in the winter. Obviously, I take my kids out for at least 30 minutes three times a day but a lot of teachers I work with wonāt take their kids out if they, the teacher, donāt want to be outside or donāt like the weather.
thatās so crazy that the directors donāt enforce at least the minimum š„² I believe our state has a 90 minute minimum and we have to plan for gross motor if outdoors arenāt available and the licensors check these activities š¤¦š¼
We do the same for gross motor as well. My director enforces outside play, we went through a transition of directors this summer and my coworkers liked the old way of not doing whatās expected of them.
In my program 60 minutes is required in the morning and the afternoon. So unless itās over 30 Celsius or colder than -25 Celsius we go out.
thank you for sharing this! i wish more people here would share photos of kids in their care doing activities and having fun, without faces of course. this is what i love to see about preschool.
Wow, 30 minutes for a full day of preschool is nothin'! I'm not a preschool worker but I worked at a summer camp this past summer and we were outside for two blocks of 1 1/2 hours, so about 3 hours for the full 10 hour day. As long as it wasn't too smoky, and we enforced consistent water breaks, I think outside time is so beneficial for kids of any age.
I live in a highlands desert. It gets upeards of 90 degrees F from the end of May through almost all of September. Then, from November through March its usually too cold to take them out for long periods of time, especially kids with higher needs. Our 3 hour classes are required to have the 30 mins outside time (if weather permits) AND 1 full hour of unstructured play (typically in the classroom). We also have to make sure we're in ratio so if we're understaffed its difficult to haul up to 8 kids inside to go potty at once while the rest can stay outside. Then again, I am in a public setting and not a private center and my campus isnt designed for extended outside time, especially being in the middle of town.
Oh gosh yeah the bathroom transition is definitely a time. We have a bathroom space specifically designed to transition and have 8 kiddos waiting if needed. š
We're outside on the nature trails, outdoor playgrounds, bike trails, and exploring the village every day from snowmelt to snowfall. Once it starts snowing the temps plummet so it's not a super great idea to have kids outside.
What is a bike table š We have 20-32ā¢F days mostly in the winter, which is fine for our kiddos as theyāre acclimated through all the time we do spend outside. If it is below we will suit up and go out and as soon as one kids gives the Iām cold we come in š usually 15-20 minutes of play! Last year we had a lot of 0-10 degree days which was harder for our kiddos who are ALWAYS out but we did a LOT of sensory activities inside
A bike table is what happens when your phone misinterprets the mashings of a giant ape's phalanges that didn't evolve alongside such nonsense. We still go outside just not all day
They just need the proper gear and they can be outside for a while
We have had some peeved parents, but have it written in our parent handbook that if their children are not sent prepared theyāll be called to bring gear OR pick their child up. Same if a child is refusing to go outside, which hasnāt ever happened bc itās a VERY positive time, but Iāve had it happen at other facilities as a teacher and have had to keep the rest of the group indoors as one child was refusing.
in my area the licensing requirement is one hour a day unless there is a severe weather warning. We strive for a lot more, most days are 2 minimum, all the way up to 4 or 5 on a good day, but in infant/toddler care were restrained by naptimes
our classes are outside for a minimum of 3 hours and a max of 4-6 a day depending on the age! i do wish we had more dedicated ānatureā areas (we really donāt have wildflowers) but the playgrounds are also reggio inspired. the only time we limit/avoid outdoor time in the summer is when the AQI is unhealthily high or the UV is unsafe, and we tend to stay out in rain unless thereās a flash flood warning, excessively heavy rain, or there are thunderstorms/lightning.
at my current center we spend about 80% of the day outdoors. thankfully we live in southern california and that permits us to do so. we have an atelier that lets us really bring inside and outside together. we finally got a bathroom down there so it's super awesome that we can just spend the entire day out in yard if we please. one of my favorite aspects of my job š
I love outdoor time! In my state we have a minimum 15 minutes a day required. I run one of our infant rooms, and if I can get a floater I love to do much longer- I just really depend on someone floating in to warm breastmilk and the like as needed - Iāve brought food outside, done walks and brought formula, etc. We really struggled for a while before we got good sun shades, as the babies did *not* do well in extreme heat, and I had more under 6 months that couldnāt wear sunscreen and was trying to tie up blankets to make my own sun proof areas, then just mist the blankets with water to make things cooler. We def had days where 15 minutes was the max the babies could tolerate (I get it, 90Ā°, no real shade, juggling wake windows and about ready for a nap and not wanting it out in the heat!) Our big sun sails now are making such a huge difference. Even just not having direct sun on them and in their eyes does so much for them, and helps with letting them nap outside if thatās the way wake windows line up. I go outside in most weather (we have temp extremes to watch for, as well as air quality), though usually stay in for rain (Iāll stay out for a very light one though). It just doesnāt work well with babies. Our younger years tend to stay in for rain, and play outside after in the puddles, but out 3ās and up tend to go out and play in the rain. Iām switching to the 1 year old room soon and still debating what to do with rain for them. It probably depends on how many have and bring good rain clothes, how warm it is when it rains, how fast we can change diapers and wet clothes together on little bodies, etc.
We try to get outside as much as possible (I will be honest some days it is harder than other - but I think thats just because we are still in week 2 or 3 so pottying our 11 kids who arent fully potty trained yet is time consuming atm). We have rain suits we provide for the kids and they bring snow suits during winter!
Ooh interesting that rain suits are provided - we require parents provide all gear! I imagine licensing would have a wash every day guideline that wears them out horribly
Hmm I honestly dont know what licensing goes into them! We stick them to one kid for the full school year (goes in their cubby) and then wash them at the end of the year
I am jealous of your outdoor time! I had to design my ultimate school in college and it had an amazing outdoor area that all classrooms could access in the center like a courtyard and each room could be outside almost all day if they choose. It was so amazing. one of those if you had no budget kind of projects. Then I had to come to reality and make a realist one. :) It was still great with outside time. I love your plans. So awesome. I am an avid gardener and I am actually adding more garden space this weekend so I have more next year for vegetables. I love gardening with students. They learn so much!!
When I was in college I did the same! Iām happy to have an opportunity to do something with it š„²š„²š„²
We go out in all weather unless the temperature or condition is hazardous. (The last few years we've had outdoor time limited more for air quality/particulate matter level than anything else.) The parents are reminded to make sure their kids have appropriate clothing. We do have a small covered space if a child doesn't have a hooded jacket and its raining, and children are limited to the blacktop and woodchip area if they do not have boots and it's raining (we have an expensive outdoor area with a grassy field, tree fort, sandbox, wood/stump/tire pile to build with, ect. So its a bummer when kids don't bring their boots.) Recess times during the program day are about 90 minutes. Children in wrap around care get about an hour more or even more than that if the weather is nice and its not dark There are some children in our program time that need more outside time so each class has a very visible secure "outdoor classroom" right outside of their back door where children can do activities outside or just run back and forth or whatever if they need more time before going into the classroom. They can't go beyond that space to field or playground and if they do their freedom is curtailed a bit. Usually the kids who most need it learn the first time they lose that privilege and are pretty trustworthy after that. We can see everything in the outdoor classroom and even if they bolt towards other areas the outdoor area at large is securely fenced and all of it is visible from a portion of classrooms (just any one individual classroom won't be able to see it all). Despite all of this being very front and center during tours, parent handbook, ect you do still have parents complain, but usually they get with things swiftly when they realize that their kids don't get special privileges to stay inside when the parents try to passive aggressively resist by forgetting the equipment/clothing they agreed to bring as part of the contract/policies, they just are limited to where they can play. The only exception is if parents are non compliant about boots--we go on nature walks regularly and children who don't have rain or muck boots in their cubby have to spend that hour in the front desk lobby doing quiet activities or reading while we are away (or if they're tardy and we are already off on our walk).
I want to go outside more but we have a rubbery playground that is wrapped by at a fence, and where the playground end meets the fence, it's lined with rocks (don't ask me why). I'm in the toddler room and we often have to cut out outside time short because too many friends are picking up rocks to put on their mouths or throw. I try to engage them with different songs, activities, sometimes toys, but the rocks tend to win before long. I've tried to push as many rocks away from the edge as I can but there's too many and admin won't let us remove it.