Dandelion and Snail Preschool

Twinfield Union School

Plainfield, Vermont

Bringing the Outdoors in:

Exploring Nature Themes
in Dramatic Play
Before

In January and February, the North East can

experience some very low temperatures,
that sometimes impact our outdoor play. In
our classroom this winter we have been
developing ways to continue to think about
and interact with nature even when we
cannot go out to play in the woods. We
want to infuse our classroom with
reminders of the natural world, bringing
elements of the outdoors inside so that
even when severe weather prevents
outdoor play our students are continuing to
build their relationship and understanding of
nature. Our first idea was to transform the
dramatic play area into a camp-ground.

After
Setting up Camp
We borrowed an open sided tent; allowing us to
observe students at play. We added fake plastic
food for picnics, backpacks, a saucepan, spoons,
small mugs, blankets, pillows, animal puppets,
and a flashlight. Before we gave the students
free reign we modelled how to move around in
the space. After a week of exploratory play, in
which picnics were made, monsters were warded off, bears and dolphins frolicked, and humans
quietly slept in the tent, we added the means to
build a fake fire. This final element created a link
to our current unit of study, fires and fire making.
Dandelion and Snail Preschool is the public preschool program at Twinfield Union School in Plainfield,
Vermont. Serving children from ages 3 to 5, with two half day programs. The morning class is partnered
with Headstart. Twinfield Union School provides free breakfast and lunch for all students.

Dandelion and Snail Preschool

Supporting Dramatic Play
After two weeks of observing student play we noticed that many
students had little or no experience of going camping and needed a
broader frame of reference to inform their
play. They needed more ideas about that
theme to feed their imaginations.
In order to extend their experience and
support the students in the exploration of
the camping theme we:

researched picture books that told

camping stories and added them
to the current library,

used our talking stick to share

ideas of what you do when you go
camping,

told stories round our fake fire,

told a story about a camping trip

and then took small groups into
the play area to act it out,

turned our camping story into a

picture book to add to our library.

Bringing outdoor themes and outdoor

materials into the dramatic play area has
given us opportunities to explore an
experience that some students have not had
in a space that feels safe and comfortable to
them. It has forged a meaningful link between our
outdoor focussed teaching philosophy and our indoor space, while
enabling staff and students to make connections between our
outdoor play and the indoor aspects of our program.

Connections to Vermont Early Learning Standards:

Creative Arts and ExpressionElement 3: Theatre (Dramatic Play)
Goal 1: Children engage in dramatic play and theatre as a way to represent real-life experiences,
communicate their ideas and feelings, learn, and use their imaginations.
Literacy DevelopmentElement 2a: Engagement with Literature and Informational Text
Goal 1: Children develop book language and demonstrate comprehension.
3. Make connections between stories and real-life experiences (Acting out the story)
4. Retell or re-enact a familiar story in the correct sequence of a familiar storys major events
with prompting and support