Outdoor play in nature offers a number of benefits, including opportunities to learn physical skills and build stamina, social skills, how to manage risks, respect for nature (NQSPLP, 2013, p. 2). Play is an activity and also a platform for mutual interaction among children and between children and adults alike (Castro, 2012; DeBord et al., n.d). It has been observed by caregivers and practitioners that children are naturally drawn to play outdoors even when the area is not well-equipped and regardless of the prevailing weather conditions (Bilton, 2010). However, a sustainable outdoor space should have sufficient shade and protection from the adverse environmental conditions in order to support healthy living for children (NLI, 2012), hence
There are many advantages to child-initiated play. Children’s emotional development is particularly supported because children are able to make their own choices. They also gain independence skills as they can help themselves to resources. This type of play helps children to be creative as they have to develop their own ideas of how to play indoors and outdoors.
Holistic plans support children’s access to outdoor play because they are looked at as a whole and they are not restricted from any activity. All children are able to play outdoors and be able to do adult led activities and child initiative activities. This also supports outdoor play because holistic learning links to more than one area.
Finally, I work hard to create an indoor and outdoor environment that enriches, challenges, and encourages children to develop interests, connect with each other, have alone time, and learn through play. I accomplish this goal by continually assessing my play materials, adding new things, gauging my children’s interests and needs, and adjusting my environment accordingly.
I am a French teacher in Murch Elementary School, and I observed Julian on November 10, 2014 between 11:30 am and 12 pm, during his outdoor play. Julian is 6 years old and he is a boy. He attends a second grade Class in Murch School. Observing Julian during his outdoor play will give me an opportunity to learn more about his physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development. I decided to observe Julian because Julian is a confident child who is taller than other children in his class. He enjoys play outside. Julian is a child who likes smile and runs everywhere. My observation method was to write everything I saw Julian was doing, and there were sufficient staff supervising outdoor play so I was able to concentrate on observing Julian
When planning and providing play opportunities for children and young people, the goal is not to eliminate risk, but to weigh up the risks and benefits. Play is important for children’s well-being and development. It’s also important to provide some risk taking challenging opportunities for all children and young people to encounter or create uncertainty, unpredictability, and potential hazards as part of their play and growing up.
In this techno-world, technology has taken over all the aspects of children’s outdoor play. Some of the constraints that affect outdoor play are risks, parents concerns about outdoor play and not enough play space available for children. Risk is equal to a combination of events/consequences and associated uncertainties (Aven, 2007). Risk in play refers to any possibility of physical injury during play. Early childhood settings usually use the term “risky play” which can be defined as a thrilling and exciting activity that involves a risk of physical injury and play that provides the opportunities for challenge, testing limits, exploring boundaries and learning about injury risk (Sandseter (2007, Little & Wyver, 2008).
When purchasing a new outdoor playset for your children, one of the most important factors to consider is the material that has been used in its construction. It usually comes down to a few different options, including metal, redwood, and cedar; however, there are several reasons cedar is consistently the most popular choice.
Some other inexpensive attractions in Chicago are the different museums and exhibits scattered around the downtown area.
The advantages of children interacting with the natural environment have been promoted to early childhood educators, with theorists such as Froebel (1896) and Steiner (1923) encouraging for children’s relationship with the nature to be nurtured. However in urban development the connectedness with the environment is largely through man made construction. Between 1980 and 2014 the average block size has decreased 8%, yet the average house to block ratio has increasing 28% resulting in less outdoor space in residential areas (Coleman, 2016). With this apparent in society, achieving greater insight into the benefits of natural play affordances in the expansions of children’s learning and skills determines the reasons for offering these resources in educational settings. In this review I will be addressing prominent literature incorporating nature play to gather a greater understanding of the implications on my own research. The research question I will be investigating is “What happened when I introduce natural play spaces to provoke open ended learning?” The aim for this review is to identify the themes in contemporary literature and provide insight into the main learning benefits of interactions with natural resources. The first discussion point will be the benefits for children in learning which nature and natural resources provide; gathering an understanding of the cognitive benefits of interacting with natural play spaces and items. The second discussion point is focussed
In the past few decades, there has been a dramatic change in the relationship between people and the outdoors. Due to a number of factors, such as, increasing urbanization and loss of access to natural areas; parental fears of strangers, traffic, and even nature itself; competition from other activities such as homework, TV, time on the computer, or playing video games; people are spending an increasing amount of time indoors. Yet there is a growing amount of evidence demonstrating a variety of positive mental, social, and physical health benefits associated with increased exposure to the natural world. From a psychological perspective, there are clear developmental, cognitive, and therapeutic benefits when children and adults experience more nature in their day-to-day lives.
This is a critical analysis of ‘Toward a model of early childhood environmental education: foregrounding, developing and connecting knowledge through Play Based Learning” by Amy Mackezie and Susan Edwards (2013). Researchers want to introduce an innovative learning model in the field of education to help teachers and educator incorporate environmental education while playing in preschool (Cutter & Edwards, 2013). This article engages pedagogical accents allied with environmental education as well as early year’s childhood education (Creswell, 2012). Based on the qualitative research of Amy and Susan, they studied earlier researches and identified new ways to educate young children about environment through play . The main purpose of the study done by Amy and Susan was to develop a thinking model to help early learning educator connect environmental learning in early childhood education.
Laurie Hollman (2016), a psychoanalyst, wrote an article on the Huffington post explaining the positive effects of playing outdoors has on children. When a child is able to play outside, they are first learning to coordinate their body with their surroundings. This can either be through playing with a ball, using a swing, playing on a jungle gym, or even playing hop-scotch. When a child is playing with parent outside, they are building a relationship. This
The primary research findings have highlighted that pupils within the lower foundation phase gain more frequent opportunities and length of time in outdoor learning than the children in upper foundation phase (Figures 2 and 3). All the respondents agreed that outdoor learning is beneficial for children concurring with White (2008), Tovey (2007) and Learning through Landscapes (2010) that children have a lack of access to the outdoor experience in their home life so it is important for schools to provide outdoor provision.
The primary research findings have highlighted that pupils within the lower foundation phase, gain more frequent opportunities and length of time in outdoor learning than the children in upper foundation phase (Figures 2 and 3). All the respondents agreed that outdoor learning is beneficial for children concurring with White (2008), Tovey (2007) and Learning through Landscapes (2010) that children have a lack of access to the outdoor experience in their home life so it is important for schools to provide outdoor provision.
Environmental education is not always implemented within schools because classrooms are the main space in which students learn and teachers are expected to teach. However, by implementing activities that surround around current events in the environment and by connecting students to nature, this can have positive effects in which it influences the individuals sense of self and their community (Mcinerney, Smyth, & Down, 2011). Research found that children who play in a natural environment to develop better physical skills such as improved motor skills, fitness, and coordination more than other children who play in build environments. They also develop better cognitivitly in which they have increased creativity and problem solving skills