Letting children loose on a bunch of planks and swings is not conducive to sound physical development - intelligent guidance and planning are needed, writes Anne O'Connor.

The freedom to be physically active - and on different scales - is something that no amount of indoor space can provide in the same way as the outdoors.

The outdoors has always been linked with physical activity, which is perhaps why, in the recent past, outdoor learning has been seen as less important than the learning that occurs inside the nursery. This was not true in the early days of nursery education, when pioneers such as Margaret McMillan based all their provision on the outdoors and saw no distinction between the bodily development of a child and the growth of their mind.

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