It is no secret that sand is one of the ultimate ingredients for a successful summer of children’s outdoor play. However, many adults tend to steer their children away from dirt and sand, knowing that the play ritual will yield excessive cleaning and laundry efforts. What most people don’t realize is that sand is actually a very valuable tool that propels early childhood learning. Without even realizing it, children are gaining important knowledge in a variety of subjects, including math, geography, science and English, among others. The Adventurous Child’s line of children’s play equipment is specifically designed to enhance early childhood education through outdoor play. Rather than sit in a sandbox, the company’s unique Sand Table allows children to stand as they explore and manipulate the grainy matter. Standing at the table helps reduce the amount of sand and dirt trapped in shoes and clothing that makes its way into the building, which is always a bonus when considering children’s outdoor play equipment. The Sand Table enables young minds to explore the most unique characteristic of sand – its ability to take on many physical forms with a simple addition or subtraction of water. Children can change the properties by mixing water with the sand, then pouring and molding it to create different shapes and forms. With the Sand Table, young students discover the math concepts of “more” and “less,” and learn to use words such as hard/soft, rough/smooth and water/land when describing surfaces and textures. According to the state’s Early Learning Standards, children also learn about geography when they are exposed to land and water forms. Outdoor play encourages young students to observe nature, discovering the physical traits of matter in the process. Preschool children can use The Adventurous Child’s unique Sand Table to create mountains, valleys, canyons, plateaus, islands, lakes, oceans, deserts or rivers. While they may not be able to read, write or even say these words, they can certainly experience them and begin to understand the various land and water forms and how they are created. For example, what appears to be a simple sand castle with a moat is actually a child’s first scientific experiments with sand, water and dirt, discovering how they can change and adapt into a multitude of different forms. By combining these materials, the opportunity for outdoor play and learning increase greatly. Early Learning Standards calls this the beginning studies of geography. Through the early study of geography, young students learn about the environment and use the five senses (touching, smelling, hearing, seeing and tasting) to investigate their surroundings and gather information. They discuss the characteristics of matter with their playmates, enhancing word recognition, vocabulary, listening and speaking skills. Without knowing it, children are learning as they play. Besides the Sand Table, The Adventurous Child offers a complete line of educational outdoor children’s play equipment, ranging from Art Easels to Root Gardens and everything in between. All Adventurous Child products are created by Certified Playground Safety Inspectors, and are designed using the highest safety and accessibility guidelines as stated by The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and The American Society for Testing and Materials standards (ASTM). For more information on products and The Adventurous Child’s unique mission, please visit the web site at www.adventurouschild.com.
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Since 1986, The Adventurous Child has specialized in outdoor classrooms and children’s outdoor play equipment. Dedicated to childhood education, the company’s outdoor play and learning products support and encourage the state’s Early Learning Standards. The Adventurous Child’s Sand Table enables young minds to discover the unique properties of sand and learn how they can be changed and adapted into a multitude of different forms. The Sand Table helps students improve upon a wide range of ...
Clark Kugler is president of The Adventurous Child, a company dedicated to supporting early childhood learning standards through children’s outdoor play equipment.
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