Nursery World - Outdoors: Key 1

In this first part of a new series on unlocking learning in the outdoor environment, Professor Jan White considers building practitioner confidence and changing mindsets

Staff need to enjoy being outdoors themselves, as well as appreciating the environment’s effect on children

The outdoor environment is increasingly understood as a powerful place for young children’s learning and development. It is now recognised as equally important as (but different from) indoor provision – and, as we learn to live with the coronavirus pandemic, also the best place to be for health and wellbeing.

Working with early years settings across the UK and elsewhere for more than 20 years, I have consistently found that there are a number of core issues that make all the difference to how well outdoor provision for learning works for everyone, on a daily basis and right through the year. Paying attention to these ‘Keys’ and working on them as a team over time gradually unlocks the wonderful potential of the outdoors as an enjoyable, effective and empowering environment for learning in the early years.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included