A commitment by nursery managers to outdoor play is essential for early years development

A look at how some day nurseries are maximising the potential of their outdoor play time and resources.

Outdoor learning is one of the core objectives of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which states that “Providers must provide access to an outdoor play area or, if that is not possible, ensure that outdoor activities are planned and taken on a daily basis.”

Despite this directive, the access that children have to outdoor play and learning remains of key concern to many notable campaigns and organisations, with a recent National Trust report highlighting the rise of ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’* and finding that only 10 per cent of children regularly play in wild places, as opposed to 50 per cent of previous generations. While research from campaign group Play England finds that 49 per cent of parents are afraid to let their children go outside for fear of strangers, 46 per cent because of traffic and 31 per cent for fear of accident or injury.

Executive director of outdoor learning and play charity Learning Through Landscapes, Juno Hollyhock, comments on some of the benefits of a good childhood experience of the outdoors, saying: “The type of experiential learning possible in the natural environment is invaluable in engaging children with the early years curriculum. It builds enthusiasm and confidence and develops the skills that young children need to thrive in a more traditional classroom environment. Children who spend more time outdoors are known to increase their energy and capacity for applied learning, are better able to focus and concentrate for longer periods of time and develop the vital social skills required to play and learn cooperatively with their peers.

“Learning and activity in the outdoors also brings with it a range of health and wellbeing benefits. Children who spend more time outdoors also tend to be less prone to instances and recurrences of common childhood illness and disease.”

Inspired to go one step further, more and more nurseries are beginning to address the challenge of outdoor learning as an area in which the full potential of their contribution has not yet been realised. Several have been keen to share their approach with daynurseries.co.uk and there are many unique and creative examples of how childcare providers can make the most of their surroundings, as well as some instances where nurseries have encountered obstacles in achieving their objectives.

Footsteps Day Nursery

Located in Hove, Portslade Day Nursery and Pre-School’s owners ensure their outdoor space contributes to all areas of the curriculum. Owner Hannah Moss comments:

“At Footsteps Day Nursery we value outdoor play. We aim to provide a rich learning experience in the outside area and represent the seven areas of learning. So all children will have a range of activities to access in the garden. We aim to let children into the garden at least twice a day in any weather, by planning relevant activities and learning experiences. We believe the indoor and outdoor environments are of equal importance and this should be reflected in planning and assessment.”

Additional features to aid learning include digging areas, a covered area with a sun sail for babies to avoid getting wet, Astroturf to prevent play areas becoming too muddy, and a wide range of natural materials, such as logs, shells and pebbles. The nursery has also been successful in securing Food Partnership funding to create its own fruit and vegetable planting bed.

Mrs Moss continues, “The outdoor environment is essential for children’s development. In the outdoor environment children can do things on a larger scale. They can use their bodies more and they can certainly be more noisy. They can have firsthand experience in exploring the natural world. So many children now live in flats that it is important for early years settings to have outdoor space.”

Circus Day Nursery

Founder of Circus Day Nursery & Pre-school, Sue Wilson-Porterfield, explains that the decline of outdoor play was very much a theme that inspired her Cheltenham facility, and its ‘Forest School’ philosophy:

“Children have little time for free play any more. And when children do have free time, it’s often spent inside in front of the television or computers. For some children, that’s because of location and limited or no outdoor space. With budgets for city and state governments slashed, public parks and outdoor playgrounds have deteriorated and been abandoned. Children’s opportunities to interact with the outdoor setting have been greatly reduced.”

With its own outdoor classroom, chicken and rabbits to take care of and the chance to explore and stimulate the imagination, Circus Day Nursery’s children will approach full-time education with a keen appreciation of the natural world.

Ms Wilson-Porterfield advises: “As educators we need to start at any early age with hands-on experience with the outdoors. There is considerable evidence that concern for the environment is based on an affection for nature that only develops with autonomous, unmediated contact with it. In their early years, children’s developmental tendency towards empathy with the natural world needs to be supported with free access to the outdoor world, over an extended period of time, so they can appreciate and learn through play.”

Woodland Outdoor Kindergartens

Notable as Glasgow’s first completely outdoor children’s nursery, Woodland Outdoor Kindergartens - Eastwood was founded in 2009 after its owners could not find any childcare provision that matched the vision they had for child growth and development. Looking outside of the UK showed them that the early years experience they had in mind was completely possible.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, co-owner Debbie Simmers said she “…was surprised that there wasn’t something a bit like this already existing. We did a bit of research and found out that this type of provision is very common elsewhere in Europe, Scandinavia and Germany. These countries are far more comfortable with their outdoor environments.”

Discussing a day’s activities, co-owner Alison Latta said: ““We really just take our lead from the children. The children shape most of their play, so there is a large portion of free play in which the children decide what they want to do. We allow the children to manage their own risk and assess risk for themselves. It gives them an emotional intelligence in regards to confidence and self-esteem, but also they’re exercising, they’re balancing, their testing their agility.”

“They absolutely love it,” adds Ms Simmers, “You can see it by the children’s faces; they’re having a great time.”

Hope Nursery

Other providers, such as in Coventry, are showing that early years learning does not have to be restricted to its own surroundings. Despite an inner-city location, Hope Nursery owners arrange regular trips to the woodland that borders the city’s outskirts, while also having the use of an allotment.

Nursery manager Caroline Taylor comments: “Groups of children have weekly sessions out in our woodland space. The children are exposed to exciting and challenging (but managed) risks and they do get dirty and muddy but on their return to nursery they are full of exciting stories to share with their friends and family.

“We have noticed that the children become more adventurous and are keen to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding back in the nursery setting.

“The allotment is a safe environment for the children to play in and explore nature, the garden is a favourite for all the children and this is where the children spend a lot of their outdoor time learning about nature and science.

“Parents have commented on the positive impact Outside Learning has had in terms of their children’s communication at home and an increased desire to interact in a much more positive way with their peers increasing their self-esteem and confidence.”

Reflections Nurseries

Reflections Nursery & Forest School, in Worthing, is another example, its owners also being inspired by Danish nurseries to recognise the ability of woodland to inspire imagination and learning. Managing director Martin Pace comments:

“Children take the lead and direct many of their own experiences which include den and bridge building, climbing trees, making fires and using tools as well as foraging and investigating flora and fauna. The woodland encourages much storytelling and imaginative play and the children develop independence and confidence during the programme.”

Alongside making the most of local woodland, Reflections Nursery has also developed its own unique garden area, with parents being able to read about the activities with which their child has been involved thanks to staff recording details of each session in a diary.

“The nursery has created an edible garden where pre-school children of all ages are involved in planting out seeds in the greenhouse and in raised beds. They take care to nurture them until harvest time, supported by our garden Atelierista*, experiencing the rhythm of the seasons and developing a relationship with many different crops.

“We believe this is critical to children’s development. It is a metaphor for many other relationships in life, yet one which children can easily access and understand.”

Further perspectives

But day nurseries do not always get their own way in pursuing this key EYFS goal, a reality Kings Castle Montessori Nursery School, in Bournemouth, has found in recent weeks. An attempt to gain permission from Bournemouth Council for more than two hours of outdoor playtime a day was refused, due to neighbours’ concerns over noise levels.

Deputy manager Caroline Hexter spoke of her dismay over the reaction, saying, “We have this fabulous, amazing outdoor space, very important to a free-flow curriculum. Members of the local community hit our appeal for more playtime with a campaign, but I don’t think they understood that not all outdoor play is as noisy as a regular playtime.”

Even though the nursery’s outdoor play area drew upon the resources of a £30,000 government grant, in 2009/10, the council still sided with neighbours who feel the sound of children playing will make a massive difference to their lives.

Despite some examples of communities failing to help day nurseries pursue their outdoor learning goals, however, Play England director Cath Prisk believes there is a wide range of potential for providers to consider when assessing their curriculum directives, saying:

“Simply playing outside should be a normal, everyday event for all children. If we want to foster the next generation of Olympians and sports stars, then we need children with confidence, who love being active and are confident in tackling challenges.”

*The term ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ was coined by American author Richard Louv, in his book ‘Last Child in the Woods’.

*Atelierista – Italian term for teacher of the visual arts