Welcome back as we continue discussing how Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences apply to learning in children’s outdoor play areas. Another intelligence that can be encouraged on the preschool playground is the linguistic intelligence. This intelligence has to do with spoken and written language, for example, using language to meet goals and express ideas.
Outdoor time is a great time for children to exercise their linguistic intelligence. While engaging in outdoor play, children make up games and communicate rules, find cozy areas to engage in small group play, engage in dramatic play with a large group of children, write in mud or dirt, write with chalk, and so on. The linguistic intelligence is present in all of these activities because children are communicating with their peers, using language to tell what they are thinking and doing, and using words to express themselves.
While children certainly get this kind of linguistic practice indoors, the outdoors provides a special opportunity for games and dramatic play as children are not restricted by space. Their imaginations can create freely in a space with less pre-determined areas and manipulatives.
See how we like to include literacy on the preschool playground.
