The opportunities offered by the outdoors are quite different from those offered indoors. Being clear about what you want your children to be able to do and experience outside that fully captures this difference for all aspects learning and development, rather than thinking about what you want to have in your outdoor space, is the focus of the eighth key to unlocking learning outdoors.
KEY 8: RANGE OF EXPERIENCES AVAILABLE
Consider if, in your outdoor space:
a wide range of experiences is planned for
all areas of learning and development are always available
you are really harnessing what is different about being outdoors
the outdoors is acting as a full half of the whole learning environment, complementary to the indoor half.
WHY IS THIS ISSUE KEY TO UNLOCKING THE OUTDOORS?
As we have shifted our terminology from ‘outdoor play’ to ‘outdoor learning’, we have recognised that time outside can and must be so much more than slides, bikes and 15 minutes of ‘letting off steam’; and that it is also far more than indoor experiences taken outdoors.
For example, the context for nurturing literacy is significantly different outside, involving novel and contrasting experiences supported by quite different resources. Working out how to construct a large-scale pulley system for transporting a snack-filled basket provides real-life and collaborative problem-solving filled with whole-bodied physical action, really bringing the story of The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch by Ronda Armitage to life.
Otherwise we are missing the point of having this environment, and leaving most of its potential locked away.
The feels very different to the indoors, and allows the child to be different. In order to make the most of the huge potential of the outdoors as a place for wellbeing and learning, providers have to be clear about why learning should happen outside as well as inside, and what exactly the outdoors offers that cannot really be provided indoors. Consider that here children can be much more physical, able to use their whole body and set challenges for themselves; encounter the real world (including the ever-changing natural world), full of interesting and motivational stimuli; have different relationships with adults and with other children; find abundant opportunities for (messy!) curiosity, exploration, innovation, collaboration and playing together.
Often, these experiences tap into deep motivations that are highly holistic, supporting the child’s inner and outer life as a whole. Whenever a child leaps from a height and lands on the ground, or moves with a bucket as the water inside it sloshes about, emotions and inner body and movement sensations are joining up with visual and tactile sensory messages coming from outside, strengthening understanding of the world while feeling increasingly capable and confident in it.
Where there is belief, trust and commitment to the outdoors being a learning environment that is accessed through each child’s own curiosities, motivations and drives, the whole ‘curriculum’ supporting all areas of experience, learning and development will become routinely available. These will be embedded in continuous provision offering experiences in a holistic way, such as through water play, gardening, imaginative play, woodworking and construction, which is possible at a much larger scale outside. Each of these ‘ingredients’ have great potential for a wide range of wonderful opportunities that are authentic and meaningful for each child. The ongoing experiences of growing vegetables and fruit contain strong emotional elements, masses of learning in every aspect of the curriculum, lots of moving and doing and the potential for laying down attitudes, interests, skills and healthy habits for life.
The case study below shows just how much children are able to do and experience when water is provided outdoors.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO BE WORKING ON IN PRACTICE?
There has to be a critical, ongoing focus on the range and type of experiences you are seeking to make available to your children through your outdoor provision.
By working on this Key over time, a wide range of appropriate, motivating and worthwhile possibilities will gradually become available to your children. The aim must be that every child’s needs and character is well met, and that the whole outdoor world is captured, from minuscule to mighty scales.
Do you want your children to:
run, climb, pedal, throw
be excited, energetic, adventurous, noisy
talk, interact, make friends
create, construct, make music, express
imagine, dream, invent
dig, grow, nurture
investigate, explore, discover, experiment
find patterns, build concepts, represent
tell stories, make marks, explore meanings
hide, relax, find calm, reflect
have responsibility, be independent, collaborate?
What children should be able to do outdoors is a much more successful way of thinking than deciding what to have outside, as it puts your children at the heart of your thinking. It also leaves each response open to a variety of both provision- and practice-based possibilities. As an example, balancing experiences can be offered in many different ways, without necessarily needing an expensive, space-consuming climbing frame.
HOW TO MAKE A START AT DEVELOPING PROVISION AND PRACTICE
Things to consider, discuss and evaluate
Are you making the most of the huge potential of the outdoors as a place for learning?
Is a wide range of rich, real and motivating opportunities offered outdoors, with all the formal areas of ‘experience, learning and development’ embedded into these?
Is what is different and special about being outdoors captured well, providing a contrasting partner to the indoors?
Things to read
Capturing The Difference: The special nature of the outdoors by Jan White, and Outdoor Play for Everyone: Meeting the needs of individuals by Theresa Casey, in Outdoor Provision in the Early Years, edited by Jan White (2011, Sage).
Playing Outside: Activities, ideas and inspiration for the early years by Helen Bilton (2nd edn., 2014, Routledge).
Elemental Play and Outdoor Learning: Young children’s playful connections with people, places and things by Annie Woods (2017, Routledge).
Things to do
Make a list of what you feel makes being outdoors unique and special.
Observe how children’s behaviour and play is different depending on the time of day, type of space, weather effects and seasonal conditions. Are you making good use of this variety and change – and the stimulating chance happenings that frequently crop up outdoors?
Walk around the locality and community. Notice and record what additional experiences your children could have through harnessing these places as an extension of your outdoor provision. How could you also bring this ‘real life’ into your daily provision?
case study: What should young children be able to do outdoors?
‘We want our outdoor environment to offer our children experiences that inspire and motivate them. Our aim is to evoke curiosity, action and excitement as they use their whole bodies, allowing them to become confident and independent individuals with autonomy in their own learning.
‘We realised that having a water tray indoors was limiting children’s experiences, as they naturally wanted to do things like transferring and transporting. So we took the water outside to make the most of the freedom it provides and kept the water experience inside for the washing up. We installed two water butts, loose guttering and a variety of containers; the impact was instant as the children freely used the water in their play.
‘Recently two-year-old twin boys joined. Each time they came in they spent time engaging independently with the water. Noticing the solar water fountain, one child lifted it up and looked puzzled when the water stopped; he then dropped it back into the water, smiling as the water began to flow again. He lifted it up and down several more times with intense curiosity. Both boys then went to a water butt and worked collaboratively, one turning the tap on while the other filled a container, which he then transported back to the water tray. When a small puddle appeared on the floor, he touched it with his finger. As he watched it ripple he appeared fascinated: a marvellous opportunity for experiencing awe and wonder.’
Sue Daniels is manager of Stibbard All Saints Nursery, Norfolk
Professor Jan White is author of several books on outdoor provision and practice and co-director of the specialist training company Outdoors Thinking
