Amplifying Outdoor Reading Adventures with Polylino: 5 Reasons to Step Outside

In our fast-paced world, it's easy to overlook the simple joys and profound benefits of taking learning outdoors. As champions of early childhood education, we're always seeking innovative ways to enrich the experiences of the children in our classrooms. Reading to children outdoors is a great activity, especially as the warmer weather comes in.

 

Below, you will find five reasons why Polylino would like to encourage you to step outside this spring.

 

1. Connection with Nature

The great outdoors provides an immersive backdrop for storytelling, stimulating children's senses and fostering a deeper connection with the natural world. Reading to children outdoors not only exposes them to the wonders of storytelling but also fosters a profound connection with nature.

 

2. Physical Activity and Wellbeing

In today's digital age, encouraging physical activity among children is more crucial than ever. Reading outdoors provides the perfect opportunity for them to stretch their legs, run, jump, and play while enjoying their favourite stories. This blend of physical activity and literary engagement promotes overall health and well-being, laying the foundation for a balanced and active lifestyle from an early age.

 

3. Focus and Concentration

Outdoor environments can enhance children's focus and concentration. The ever-changing scenery captivates their interest and encourages sustained attention, leading to deeper engagement with the stories being read. By immersing themselves in the beauty of nature whist listening to stories, children develop crucial attentional skills that serve them well in all areas of learning.

 

4. Multi-Sensory Exploration

Outdoor environments engage all the senses, providing a sensory-rich backdrop for storytelling. From feeling the warmth of the sun on their skin, to hearing the symphony of birdsong, children experience stories in a way that stimulates their senses and enhances comprehension. Outdoor reading encourages them to explore textures, observe colours, and engage with the world around them on a multi-sensory level.

 

5. Unleashing Creativity

The vast expanse of the outdoors ignites imagination and creativity like no indoor setting can. Surrounded by nature's wonders, they are inspired to create their own narratives, invent characters, and explore endless possibilities. Outdoor reading sparks creativity in ways that transcend the confines of traditional classrooms, nurturing a generation of innovative thinkers and storytellers.

 

When it comes to outdoor storytelling, having a digital library of children's books equips educators with easy access to a diverse range of stories tailored to children's interests. By using technology such as tablets, educators can easily bring storytelling sessions outside. The lightweight and compact nature of tablets make them easy to transport between indoor and outdoor spaces, seamlessly integrating technology into outdoor learning experiences.

 

 

How Polylino can help:

Polylino is a multilingual digital picture book service for early years settings, containing over 700 texts in more than 65 languages. The service is available digitally and can be accessed both online and via an app, making it perfect for outdoor lessons.

 

The platform features books to suit all tastes and interests.  Alongside stories, it features non-fiction, rhyming poetic texts and nursery rhymes helping to support the teaching of English in the Early Years and Key Stage One. 

 

Top Tip: Polylino offers QR code functionality, simplifying the process of searching for books on the platform. A fantastic approach to engage children with Polylino is by printing QR codes and strategically hiding them throughout an outdoor area. Encourage the children to embark on a treasure hunt to discover the QR codes before enjoying the story together.

 

To try Polylino for free, please click here.