Nursery World - Enabling Environments: Movement-Play

The freedom to explore certain types of movement is vital for both
physical and mental development.Carol Archer and Professor Iram Siraj
explain.

Ask early years practitioners about their childhood experiences of physical activity and most will respond with narratives of playing in parks, swimming in the sea, or jumping off the garage roof. All those who tell their stories recall how free and happy they were when they were playing outdoors, running around for what seemed like hours, rolling down hills, making dens, digging and playing with mud, or spinning on roundabouts.

These experiences are recalled taking place with brothers, sisters, cousins and friends and without any adult supervision. The participants enjoyed the risks they took, though with an element of trepidation - but most strikingly nearly all recall feeling a wonderful sense of freedom and exhilaration.

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