HOME-BASED ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY

Outdoor Play

DESCRIPTION

Being outdoors and engaging with the natural world is a healthy, positive activity for young children. Outdoor play activities such as playing in a sandbox or discovering nature are often part of children’s daily schedules at home. Outdoor play can include child- or adult-directed games, such as imaginary play, as well as activities with peers. Discussions about the natural world offer opportunities to document communication skills as children engage in imaginary play as animals, scientists, explorers, or adventurers. Outdoor play is a good context for large-group assessment activities because it is possible for the team to observe whether children know and follow game rules and how they participate. These games offer the opportunity for children to run, jump, and play with balls.

SUGGESTED MATERIALS

No special materials are necessary other than those already available in nature (plants, insects, stones, leaves, etc.) or in the yard (balls, etc.).

• An adult could encourage the child to use their senses to explore nature (smell leaves, flowers, or herbs; touch rocks or leaves, etc.) and comment on their experiences.
• An adult could facilitate imaginary play by suggesting a setting such as a forest, farm, or jungle as the child takes on an imaginary role as an animal, explorer, or adventurer. The child could also use props during the imaginary play.
• Outdoor activities can also be used to elicit targeted test items, such as by:
  • Explore the environment
  • Make simple observations (“A bucket of leaves is lighter than a bucket of sand”)
  • Expand their observations and explorations through further inquiry
  • Generate hypotheses and investigate to test them (“If I throw a leaf and a rock with the same force, which one will go farther?”)
  • Explain their understanding of phenomena
  • Anticipate outcomes of their investigations
  • Draw plausible conclusions about events beyond their personal experience

Date(s) completed: ____
Person completing form: ____
Program: _____

GROSS MOTOR

Strand C, 1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL

Child(ren) observed:

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL

Strand C, 2, 2.1, 2.2, 3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4, 4.1, 4.2

SOCIAL-COMMUNICATION

Strand B, 4, 4.1
Strand D, 1, 1.1, 2, 2.1, 2.2, 3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5
Strand D, 3, 3.1, 4, 4.1
Strand E, 1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3, 3.1, 3.2, 4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3

HOME-BASED ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY

Outdoor Play

Gross Motor

Social-Emotional

HOME-BASED ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY

Outdoor Play

Outdoor Play

D. Social Use of Language (continued)

Cognitive

Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System for Infants and Children, Third Edition (AEPS®-3), by Bricker, Dionne, Grisham, Johnson, Macy, Slentz, & Waddell. © 2022 Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved.