Outdoor learning environments invite children to get out into the fresh air to learn in a space filled with amazing natural colors and sounds.
The fantastic thing about being outside is that often when children enter the outdoors they instantly feel a sense of calmness while simultaneously gaining a bit more freedom to be noisy, kinesthetic explorers.
The outdoors can truly be the perfect setting for students to learn and grow, and what better way to soak up all that opportunity than with the Kodo Outdoor Magnet Wall!
The Outdoor Magnet Wall is the ultimate STEM learning tool! It naturally encourages children to collaborate and engage in a process of planning, testing, problem-solving, and investigating, all while exploring engineering and physical science concepts like…
- Acceleration
- Causation
- Direction
- Friction
- Force
- Mass
- Motion
- Velocity
Children can align the ramps to create inclines and declines to test how different angles of position, both upward and downward, impact how fast objects move.
Things other than balls
Balls undoubtedly roll wonderfully down the ramps, but it’s also exciting to explore what other types of objects roll and slide up and down.
Try offering children a variety of objects to explore like…
- Acorns
- Corks
- Lemons and Limes
- Pebbles
- Pine Cones
- Pumpkins
Using diverse materials with the ramps allows children to explore how material attributes impact how things move.
Wet, Dry, and Sticky
The outdoor ramps and accessories can get wet! This gives children the opportunity to mix up a variety of concoctions and investigate how consistency impacts movement.
Try using materials like…
- Sand
- Slime
- Slurry
- Mud
Loving Problems with the Outdoor Magnet Wall
The Outdoor Magnet Wall also prompts thoughtful problem-solving! A variety of problems are bound to surface as children engage and interact with the wall, ramps, and accessories. But that’s okay! We LOVE PROBLEMS! Problems offer great opportunities for further investigation and meaningful learning.
Problems spark…
- Wonder and Curiosity
- Critical Thinking
- Important Questions
For example, when using one of the water packs, The Magnet Wall Aqua Circuits Pack or The Magnet Wall Water Pack, depending on what type of material or mixture children put into the tubes and hoses a problem in flow may occur, creating an opportunity for students to question…
What if a mixture gets stuck? What changes need to be made to the layout of the tubes, or hose, or to the mixture itself to keep it moving more freely?
So, take the learning outdoors and soak up all the amazing possibilities The Outdoor Magnet Wall offers for play, exploration, and investigation!
Visit the Kodo Community to read more about our Outdoor Magnet Wall!
Kodo materials featured in this blog:
