What do you get if you put me and 150 childminders in a room late on a Tuesday night? Sound like the beginning of a joke? Welcome to my world! We were looking at turning your garden/back yard into a purposeful outdoor space without spending a fortune.
Lots of good feedback from the delegates – would love to see what they actually go back and do, was also really impressed at how much is already going on in peoples back gardens, some really inspirational stuff.
More and more in the settings that I work with I am seeing the use of a butchers curtain accross the outside door to let the door be open, with maximum visibility but keep out the weather.
Most of them are of the same design. You fix a metal strip above your door. The strip has hooks on it and then you hang thick, clear PVC strips from the hooks. This allows you to partially or completely cover your door. You will be surprised at just how effective they are at keeping the cold out and the warm in!
They look a bit like this…
I have found a few on the internet. Usually between £75-£100 for an average sized door. If you search the internet you need to search ' butchers curtain ' or ' freezer curtain '.
It has been a while since I had a good look at a TTS catalogue, but was joined last night not only by the childminders but also by Angela McCabe a TTS representative. They have some really good Early Years resources. The thing I particularly liked about them was that many of them are made from natural materials and very much embrace the ethos of getting children to think and explore. Angela also told me that they stock the butcher's curtain, although I have no idea how their prices compare and have to point out that other retailers are available!
No more excuses from staff about getting that outside door open and a huge annual saving in the cost of thermal underwear!
If you are surfing and you find one for a good price - let us know!
Alistair
3 Comments on “Continuous Outdoor Provision – A bit of help!”
I brought a ‘free flow curtain’, from tts, it was $100. ( sorry about the $ had a new iPad and haven’t work out all the bits yet) the curtain took our caretaker approx 15 mins to fit. We did have to make a risk assessment regarding fire exits etc. However on the whole it’s been work every penny.
We’ve just had our butcher’s curtain put up – bliss! Cannot believe the difference it has made and the children love it too – making a ‘dramatic’ entrance into outdoor area every time! ‘Tadaaa!
Not sure what our’s cost – think it was about £100, but it took 5 minutes for the bloke to put it up!
Jenni
As a lone working childminder continuous outdoor provision is difficult to acheive however an enthusiasm to be outdoors and a willingness to get the back door open is a good place to start and you gave us some great ideas on Tuesday evening.
By the way I’m going to be using “Me Nanna’s got some mince in the fridge” in so many situations when I’m not feeling engaged!