Slides are fundamental equipment in early childhood education. They support gross motor development and balance. Children will learn social skills as they wait their turn and try to “go up the slide”.
Children can use slides and ramps in STEM exploration, as they test objects and materials. They can build their own ramps from loose parts. These are awesome for racing cars!
EYLF Learning Outcomes
Slides and ramps connect with the Early Years Learning Framework and teach children to become strong in their physical learning and wellbeing (3.2).
They teach a growth mindset and learning dispositions such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, commitment, enthusiasm and persistence (4.1). They teach a range of skills and processes such as problem-solving and experimentation (4.2).
Slides and ramps can be vastly different, requiring children to transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another (4.3). They can be made from natural materials and processed materials (4.4).
Learning experiences
Use your imagination
Incorporate storytelling and imagination with sliding. Children can pretend they are:
- sliding through a magical land
- firefighters sliding down a pole
- on a giant snake’s back
- or escaping down a dragon’s tail.
Start a ramp and slide project
Start a STEM project about ramps and slides! Your children can learn about gravity, the effects of different materials and surface textures, and the relationship between ramp height and speed.
Brainstorm questions and find the answers through the internet and your own science experiments. Children can test their outdoor slide by rolling objects down it. Predict the results of your experiments, like which object will travel the fastest.
Make your own ramps
Provide children with loose parts so they can build their own ramps. They can use chairs, tables, boxes or stacks of books to give them height. Ramps can be made from planks of timber, cardboard, guttering, pipes and tubes.
Once they have made a ramp, they can roll toy cars or marbles down it.