Special needs school appeals for outdoor play activities equipment
07/10/2010 A school for children with special needs is appealing for help from the local community to provide equipment for outdoor play activities.
Mabel Prichard Special School in Oxford had its playground extended over the summer and is asking for donations of old toys and outdoor play equipment, the Oxford Mail reports.
Some 20 young children with physical disabilities and learning difficulties, aged between one and seven, will be using the toys.
Nursery leader Anna Panter told the newspaper that outdoor play activities are "brilliant" for the kids.
"If we do one-on-one play, it's a way of communicating with the children, as we have some children with no speech," Ms Panter said.
"Play is important because it helps them learn and it motivates them."
Those wishing to donate toys should contact Ms Panter on 01865 775218.
Researchers at the University of Illinois in the US also discovered recently that outdoor play activities could improve children's memories.
Kids who were physically fit were shown to have a 12 per cent larger hippocampus – the part of the brain responsible for memory.
Mabel Prichard Special School in Oxford had its playground extended over the summer and is asking for donations of old toys and outdoor play equipment, the Oxford Mail reports.
Some 20 young children with physical disabilities and learning difficulties, aged between one and seven, will be using the toys.
Nursery leader Anna Panter told the newspaper that outdoor play activities are "brilliant" for the kids.
"If we do one-on-one play, it's a way of communicating with the children, as we have some children with no speech," Ms Panter said.
"Play is important because it helps them learn and it motivates them."
Those wishing to donate toys should contact Ms Panter on 01865 775218.
Researchers at the University of Illinois in the US also discovered recently that outdoor play activities could improve children's memories.
Kids who were physically fit were shown to have a 12 per cent larger hippocampus – the part of the brain responsible for memory.
