The humble wooden pallet.
Such a simple object that affords so many practical uses for learning.
I received this image from Community Playthings (@community_play)

Isn’t it magnificent?
You can read about it here: www.communityplaythings.co.uk/...
It is truly awesome – but it is a ship, it will always be a ship and can really only be a ship/shipwreck/pirate ship/sunken ship etc. In terms of children feeding their innate curiosity, beyond the obvious it is limited. In my opinion.
See my other story: Curiosity killed the Cat, but…
Children should be given the resources to create their own landscape outside, so yes, give them a pile of wooden pallets – at some point they will build a ship! But they will quickly make it a rocket, car, castle, cave, prison… and so on.
It is the flexibility that creates the power.
My best observation of this was as a student in Hull, we lived in a side road which had a bollard at the end preventing car access. Opposite our house lived 2 brothers and somewhere near their friend, all aged 8-10. We called them the A-Team.
One day one of these appeared in the road, like things often did…

Image Credit: www.dealry.co.uk
The A-Team swooped!
Daily they appeared with tools, bits of wood, plastic sheeting, pallets, tyres, car seats (we thought it best not to ask where they came from) and they would transform this cart into all sorts, hence their nickname. 
They had and developed serious skills, they planned, organised, discussed what they needed to find. Over several weeks ,before the council came and cleared it, they created wonders.
This sets me thinking when schools build “A Thing”, is it too specific and as such limits the play and learning opportunity?
So, the pallet…
It can be used for so much and it lends itself to many things.

• They make excellent wall mounted hanging frames for other equipment i.e. in a Mud Kitchen.
• This image from @imaginationtree for making a portable writing surface (cheap as chips).

• Use as a great ladder for climbing up and over things. 
  

Yes, it involves children taking a risk! Good - they need too! Watch them, they might slip, they might fall, but they will learn to do it better! 

• Bolt 4 together and line it to make a raised planter/compost bin.
• Line one with garden fabric, fill it with compost and you can plant in perfectly spaced rows!
• Build something! A den, prison cell, a raft (great on a flooded playground!)
• Create a staircase or tower
• They can be piled up neatly and stuffed with leaves, sticks, canes and so on as a giant ‘Bug Hotel’
• Use the fact they are square/rectangular to form the sides of 3D shapes. 

Can you make an Octagonal Prism?


Pallets are ‘flexible’ even if not literally.


When it comes to November 5th, if you've too many or some that are past their best – your school bonfire is sorted!

I read @misssmerrill ‘s post: You’re Never Too Old and it’s autumnal ideas for learning reminded me of a blog I posted from 2008. (Yes, 2008, I blogged before it was cool!)

I've taught both in rural and urban schools and as I live in the country, near a riverside, woodland and farmland I'm still saddened to meet Y6 children in schools who've never been in woodland or seen a cow! (yes, really). Milk comes from the supermarket (I was told this all too recently by a bright 9 year old).

We need to get children outside and back in touch with nature. We take it for granted but for some children, it is something they just do not get enough of! It is liberating, thought provoking and enlightening.
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We often bemoan the screentime children get and this was brought home to me today when a child asked me: “How did you cope before the internet?”

A response came for another child before I had the chance to reply, “He probably went outside.” This was met by hilarity, as though leaving the house to play was the maddest idea ever.
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These children have a gorgeous rural setting, look…

View from the my Staffroom.

Many years ago, in the dim and distant past, I would take an annual school visit to a village in the country, which was a new experience for many at the time being city dwellers. From where we based ourselves we were 5 minutes’ walk to woodland, 10 seconds to a field and 5 minutes to the river. "Wow! I've never been in a forest!" exclaimed *Kathy*, Y5, and it was only a small woodland but she was in another world.

The farmer took children around the farm yard to see crops, both growing and harvested, the machinery and animals. They were always fascinated and talked about it for ages afterwards, it is such a positive experience for them. Not least watching the sizable bull stare them down… in their bright red sweatshirts!

Every year the trip was successful, every year the children and parents thanked me and every year I tried to do it again.
It’s important for children to reconnect with nature, which is why I want to launch a “Bring Back the Nature Table” campaign.

I want to see one in every primary school and for children and adults alike to start investigating the amazing things nature shares with us – every season has its joys, but where better to start than Autumn?

So, come on leaf gatherers, cloud sculptors, fungi finders, feather fetchers and photo takers. Pine cone hunters and bark bringers unite and ignite the flame of natural curiosity under your children from 5-18! 
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Use every media, from the real object to the recorded to inspire... it was my Nan who taught me to love a cloud sculpture!

I confess that I'm not the most tech-experienced, but I'm getting more opportunities to up-skill myself. I'm going to share some apps that I've used when working with children outside. 

The main premise of working with children outside is to reconnect them with nature and limit the screen-time they get, but it's impossible to get away from the great apps/features of an iPad that lend themselves to when you step outside the classroom

iMovie (Free with eligible hardware)
Lots of application for recording/editing videos taken during outdoor explorations. Perhaps most powerful when back in the classroom. Musical trailer to represent a PE Lesson or developing a full scale 30-60 second evaluation of the school's environmental practices.

Pic Collage (FREE)
Other apps are available, like Moldiv, but I think PicCollage gives simple templates to collect and share photos from the children's adventures in turning over stones/logs and sharing the images taken during the woodland walk or school visit.

Flipagram (FREE)
Use this to create short picture montages after performances and educational visits. Children can quickly create videos for sharing on social media or the school website.

PhotoBooth (Built In)
I'm a fan of all the image distortions on this app. I've let the children in EYS/KS1 go on a walk watching through the 'Thermal' view. "It's really like another world!" John (5)
Taking photographs through the filter, can then lead to some wonderful Warhol-esque artwork.

Voice Notes & Notes (Built In)
Record thoughts, observations, vocabulary, actions for use in writing later. Record shapes in the environment, using text or sound for younger or SEND children.

I-Beam Mag. Glass (FREE)
Great free app with infinite zoom. Fantastic for up-close photographs of leaves, bark, soil samples and mini-beasts.

Tim O's Compass (FREE)
Send the children on a treasure hunt like real pirates following the map. Develop awareness of direction.

Clock (Built In)
Use the clock, stopwatch or timer. I set it running as the children go out and then they know precisely when they should be back!

Calculator (Built In)
Work out maths problems while out and about!

Eco Explorer (FREE)
Designed by a Science Leader Steven Lewis-Neill, the app has 100s of web based activities and tasks for KS1/2 Sc2 Topics - easy login for children and will track their progress

Warblr (iPhone app) £3.99
Great app at a reasonable price - the microphone identifies bird songs and brings up a fact-file on the bird it picks up. Makes for a great survey of wildlife, outside of insects/bugs!

Birds of Britain Pro (Lite Version FREE / Pro Version £2.29)
Similar to Warblr, but fact-files on birds and sound files of songs. Free version has 30 birds, Pro version has 199 birds. I like the quality of the information texts on the go.

BBC Weather (FREE)
Using the app to develop the children's awareness of the symbols and make predictions of the weather over time, can be used in conjunction with cloud identification apps (Cloud Types £0.79 or Coton £1.49).