1- The shed
We have a small 'house' shed in our outdoor space. We only have use of 1 half of it as the other side is used to store the portable stage used for productions. I always theme the shed to our topic and this time I've taken my inspiration from the story of 'The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch' and the shed has become Mrs Grinling's kitchen. One of the trees has been turned into a lighthouse and we have a pulley system set-up between the shed (and the boat that is next to it) and the tree so that Mrs Grinling can send the food to Mr Grinling in the lighthouse.
This kitchen set up is usually in the classroom as a permanent, home themed, role-play area. This term, we've taken it outside to the shed to be Mrs Grinling's kitchen.
The lighthouse was made by laminating strips of white and red A3 paper and full A3 sheets of yellow paper for the light. I simply sellotaped together a few strips and then wrapped them around the tree, sellotaping the ends together to secure it.
The pulley system came from the TTS catalogue and I gave the children a choice of different buckets to use as their basket- unfortunately, a proper Mrs Grinling style basket is very hard to come by.
The children have enjoyed getting food from the kitchen, placing it in the buckets and then moving it to the lighthouse. It's great for teamwork too as the clipping on and movement of the bucket is a 2 person job.
2- The shelter
We have a covered space within our outdoor area, known to us as 'the shelter'. It seems to be a bit of a wind tunnel but it does at least give me the chance to do some things that wouldn't work well in the rain! For this topic, it's an ice cream van...
I used our construction poles (the same as the ones used to build these dark dens) to create the basic van shape and then, with the help of a colleague, covered it in display backing paper. We left a side open so that the children (and adults) could get inside and another section open for the window. I drew a few details on using markers and then added labels and posters from Twinkl. We already had some wooden ice creams and lollies so these were perfect too. I also added a till with real coins to add a money element to the role-play.
3- The tuff spot
I have to admit that I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with tuff spots/builders trays. We have quite a few of them because they can be really useful but sometimes I just don't know what to do with them at all! I look for ideas on Pinterest but never really find anything I love.
We use one as a permanent dinosaur home (maybe another post, another time!) but I then try to do something topic related in at least one of them. This time I've managed 2 so I'm quite happy with myself!
In one, I've used a TTS tuff spot mat with a beach design on it. I added some water to the tuff spot and then places in some blue and green coloured stones and some shape matching boats. As well as role-play, my children this year love water so this had gone down really well with them.
My second tuff spot idea lives under 'the shelter' to provide a bit of protection from the British spring / summer time (e.g. rain) and simply contains some sand. I've placed the tuff spot on the lowest of my tuff spot stands and placed three deckchairs around it. This puts it at the perfect height for the children to be able to take off their shoes and socks and feel the sand between their toes! Even on a slightly chilly day, our beach was very busy!
Some simple, some more complicated ideas- hopefully I've inspired you to want to go to the beach too.
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