OUTDOORS at doodlebugs
We love the outdoors and encourage children to spend lots of time outdoors in the fresh air!

At doodlebugs we have a fantastic large garden, it is safe and secure with lots of places for your child to explore, run, hide and enjoy. We try to use our garden all year round, and as much as possible. It is a great place to play and learn, you will often find doodlebug children playing outside engaged in lots of physically fun activities with Penny our full-time Early Years Practitioner, who is also a qualified PE teacher.

Over the past decade there has been a growing interest in using the outdoor environment with children and young people in the UK as a way of developing skills and increasing motivation for learning. Recent research illustrates that using the outdoors as a learning resource is highly beneficial for physical, mental, social and emotional development in children. The Scandinavian tradition of using nature and the outdoor environment as a learning resource and not simply as a place for children to ‘let off steam’ has become an important aspect of childrens development. Our garden is unique and has been developed over the past year with the children that work and play at doodlebugs. At doodlebugs it is important to us to continue to develop not just our indoor playrooms but our outdoor space too.

Vegetable Gardens Flower Gardens Play equipment, balancing equipment Home play, little play house complete with own garden and washing line Little wooden fort for the little adventurer Bird Tables Bird Nest boxes Grass areas to run and play Track for wheeled toys

We have a variety of garden tools and outdoor equipment to help children explore and investigate the outdoor space. Your child can use binoculars to look at birds nests. Explore the garden looking at things which are close up and further away. They can dig through a pile of rotting leaves to find minibeasts and then use the magnifying pot to look at what they have found, time spent outdoors is enriching and valuable, at doodlebugs your child will be given plenty of opportunties to investigate and learn outside.

Growing flowers, plants and vegetables
Both cuddlebugs and jitterbugs have their very own garden patch where they grow their own flowers and vegetables and learn to appreciate living things.

Environmental learning at doodlebugs
The contents of our outdoor bag are used to support learning when the children are working outdoors.

doodlebug – outdoor rucksacks: gardening gloves – to keep little fingers nails clean clipboard and blank A4 paper – to draw pictures of all those amazing finds nature book – to compare binoculars – to explore magnification pot - to investage with small gardening fork and trowel – to dig little holes with

“At doodlebugs we believe that children should enjoy nature first-hand."