Outdoor Play at an Anji Kindergarten in China

By Wanqiu Meng

In South China Zhejiang province, in a town named Anji, a kindergarten program has introduced specialized outdoor equipment to support and extend children’s outdoor activities. This “Anji Play” is recommended by the Chinese Ministry of Education for all of the country, and has captured the attention of early childhood education experts from around the world. I recently had an opportunity to undertake fieldwork in one Anji kindergarten.

Outdoor Play at Ji Guan Kindergarten
The Ji Guan Kindergarten in Anji is a garden-style, multi-functional kindergarten with a diverse ecological environment. It is a model for kindergartens in Zhejiang Province and an experimental base for education and scientific research regarding Anji Play.

In Ji Guan Kindergarten, children spend at least two hours playing outdoors every day. At approximately 9 o’clock in the morning, the outdoor space comes alive with hundreds of children playing and talking with each other. Children climb up and down on the barrels and large cubes in the safe environment they created themselves; play with sand and water in the natural environment; and paint on walls, cars, drums, etc.

The outdoor area of Ji Guan Kindergarten is divided based on different types of materials and equipment: climbing area, sand water area, construction area, swing area, rolling plastic barrel area, painting area, and role playing area. The rolling plastic barrel area is a subtly designed area. The plastic barrel has enough space to accommodate a number of children at the same time. As the children inside the barrel roll it along, they can observe the situation outside through small windows and enjoy the pleasure and risk of hiding in a semi-closed space. In the painting area, creativity is allowed to happen in many unexpected places. Children can doodle on the ground, on a graffiti wall that can be rinsed, and on an old van.

Outdoor areas with different materials and functions in Ji Guan Kindergarten.

Rich in variety and quantity of play opportunities, the Ji Guan Kindergarten provides minimally structured, open-ended materials of all sizes. These materials include both highly designed and found objects that invite children to engage in large-scale construction, design, combination, recombination, revision, imagination, and self-expression. Some ladders and boards are taller and longer than the children. Anji educators and teachers point to the benefits of engaging a child’s entire body in the process of problem-solving by manipulating materials.

In Anji play, the role of the adult is to create human and physical environments that embody trust in the child as a capable learner, that are safe, accessible, consistent, honest, open, predictable, and are defined by clearly articulated, simple, and reasonable expectations.
-Anji Play website (www.anjiplay.com)

Children challenge themselves by walking or sliding on their self-built combinations of ladders, climbing cubes, and planks.

Play Sharing at Ji Guan Kindergarten
Reflection about the outdoor play is a fixed segment of every school day in Anji. This semi-formal teaching opportunity is organized by teachers, but dominated by the children. Children are supported by teachers, parents, materials, and the environment as they reflect on their experiences in three ways: (1) reflection during play, (2) recording play stories by drawing, and (3) play sharing.

After the outdoor play, the children go back to the classroom to draw the impressive play scenes and describe them in their own words. Because the child cannot yet write Chinese characters, the teacher helps each child to write down their reflections.

The children draw play stories and the teacher helps them write down their descriptions.

After recording play stories by drawing, children take the initiative to discuss their play of the day, what interesting things they encountered, and the challenges that were difficult to solve. Other children help come up with ideas and solve problems. A group of 6-year-old children in one class conducted the following discussion:

“I caught a bug that I didn’t know what it was. It was big and round. I turned on the bug catcher and the bug ran away.”
“Guo and I caught spiders, watermelon worms, and all kinds of insects.”
Teacher: “How can we catch insects?”
“I use my hands to catch insects. Some are soft, some are hard.”
“Some worms suck blood, leeches and vampires.”
Teacher: “Well, this method is a little dangerous.”
“Use insect catcher to scrape and dig on the ground.”
“The little lizard in my house is dead. The fish is dead. The little wild insect is dead. It’s dead in the sun.”
Teacher: “Other small animals help.”
(The children start chattering.)
Teacher: “Did you listen carefully?”
(The classroom is quiet. The teacher asks the children to continue their discussion.)
“Shovel some soil with a shovel. If there is a bit of mud on your hand, you don’t have to touch the insects.”
“It’s too dirty.”
Teacher: “Wash it with water.”
“When the mud is dry, it can’t be washed.”
(The teacher shows a picture of the children putting ants on the leaves.)
Teacher: “Let’s have a look at this. What’s your method?”
“I catch insects with leaves. I found an ant, like leaves, in order not to let it run, I caught it with leaves.”
Teacher: “This is also a good way.”
Teacher: “Tom has three questions to discuss with you. He has recorded them on paper. Now please let him talk about them.”

Tom: “The first question is, what do ants like to eat?”
“Sweet things.”
Teacher: “How do you know that spiders are sweet?”
“Put sweet things. Ants eat very little. They starve to death.”
“The big ant ate all the food, but he didn’t have to eat anything else.”
“At my grandmother’s house [she] puts a small piece of sugar. After supper, a group of ants were eating it.”
“I saw it on TV.”
Teacher: “Let’s discuss the second question.”
Tom: “What is the long thing on the balance beam?”
“It’s a connected mushroom.”
Tom: “The third question is, Why do mushrooms grow on wood?”
Teacher: “These two problems are very difficult. Let’s go back and check the data to solve them.”

The play sharing lasts about half an hour. After that, the children prepare for lunch. After physical and mental activities, the children enjoy their meals very much.

As a teacher assistant who had the opportunity to observe these children at play in nature, I recognized that our youngest learners bring their own thinking to the process of discovery. The students’ comments that they recalled their grandmother’s advice or had viewed a topic on television affirms that early learners absorb so much more from their own lived experiences. When they share their knowledge with us (peers/researchers/teachers), there is a ripple effect of discovery.

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, CE International recommends that all education program personnel follow their local health experts’ recommendations to ensure the safety of all the children in their care.