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How to Spend More Time Learning Outdoors in the Early Years

Taking your setting’s children out on regular nature walks can boost social, emotional and physical health – and it’s great fun too, explains Claire Martin…

Claire Martin
by Claire Martin
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Research has demonstrated that young children today are spending less time outside immersed in nature than previous generations.

A survey conducted by Persil, as part of their ‘Dirt is good’ campaign, for example, revealed that 74% of those who took part spent less than an hour outdoors each day.

There are many reasons for this – the rise of technology and the increased risk associated play a role, while the increased focus on academic standards mean many practitioners feel under pressure to cram more instruction into their daily timetable at the expense of free, uninterrupted play.

But whatever the cause, it means that children are missing out on vital learning opportunities.

Being outside in nature is beneficial for children’s social, emotional and physical health. The Netherlands consistently tops the tables for ‘happiest children in the world’, and having free access to outside play is one of the main reasons why.

Spending time outside and in nature gives children and adults the opportunity to explore in an unrestricted way. It promotes physical activity and an increase in exercise helps to increase blood flow to the brain, which stimulates cell growth in the hippocampus, which is the centre of learning and memory.

Early years practitioners know that children need to play outside, but with the pressure of test scores and end-of-year targets, some teachers lose sight of this fact. We as a workforce need to have the courage in our own pedagogical beliefs and ensure children have time to be children in the great outdoors.

Nature walks

Nature walks are a great way for children to explore the natural environment and improve their physical development. In the Toddler class at the British International School of Boston, we try to take our children on a nature walk at least once a week – the children love having the freedom to run and explore.

It can be difficult to find the time in an already busy timetable, but we have found that even going on a short, 20-minute expedition can boost children’s development in many areas.

We take the children on walks despite bad weather (we believe there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!). Being outside and experiencing weather and seasons, as well as natural materials, is a great sensory experience.

Connecting with nature also helps children to develop important cognitive skills, including

  • social skills,
  • confidence,
  • physical skills,
  • speaking and listening skills,
  • motivation and concentration,
  • knowledge and understanding of the environment,
  • improved concentration and behavior.

We have found that being active has been a great tool for language development, too, especially for our boys. Exploring nature encourages our children to talk more, from using simple words to building on speaking in longer sentences.

Our smallest children have also benefited from our short walks around our school campus. Their stamina develops immensely throughout the year and they grow in confidence in their walking and running abilities.

Our school is situated amongst many trees and near a large hill, which the children love to run and roll down. This has proven to be a great, free resource for us. It provides the children with physical challenges and encourages them to move in different ways.

However, even those settings located in a ‘concrete jungle’ can still find ways to explore nature. Walking to a local park and giving children time to look under logs and rocks for insects can be a fantastic learning experience.

There are a variety of trees on our campus, which the children enjoy playing amongst. Through exploration and social interaction, they develop their imagination. They love pretending the small trees are homes to fairies, and they hunt for bears and dragons behind the larger trees!

The imagination and language the children use when engaging in play outside is of a much higher quality than when they are playing inside.

Staying safe

Of course there are risks and safety concerns to consider when allowing children the freedom to explore nature. We ensure that adults can keep sight of all children, and we talk to the children before we leave about how to stay safe outside, and to ensure they don’t wander off on their own.

We have the same discussion before each walk, so it becomes second nature to the children. Once outside, we show the children the area they are allowed to play in and usually use trees and bushes as markers.

With our smallest children we also put up tape before we take them out, so there is a clear visual indicator of where they are allowed to be.

We normally go on a walk to the same area, so we know there are no poisonous leaves/berries. If we do take children to a new area, we will always do a walk-through first for our risk assessment.

If we are out with the children and we come across a berry or leaf, we don’t recognise, we model to the children how to find out more about it. We talk to the children about not touching leaves that look different and we show them how to use our iPad to research different trees and plants.

We encourage the children to take ownership of their own safety. Of course, we keep an eye on them, and we know our children well enough to understand their physical limitations and when we need to step in; however, we encourage them to push their boundaries of what they can do.

We try to refrain from saying “be careful” as this can instil fear and highlight our lack of trust in children’s own judgements. Instead, we try to use phrases such as

  • “Take your time.”
  • “What is your next move?”
  • “Which part of your body might you bump if you do that?”
  • “Do you feel stable?”
  • “Are you feeling scared/excited/safe?”
  • “Do you feel safe there?”
  • “I’m here if you need me.”

Using these kinds of phrases allows children to develop their own awareness of their surroundings. Engaging in risky play is a great way for children to practise their problem-solving skills.

9 ways to spend some time in nature

  • Go on a flower/insect hunt.
  • Climb on broken tree trunks.
  • Make a den.
  • Play in fallen leaves.
  • Roll down hills and try moving in different ways.
  • Go on a ‘listening walk’.
  • Collect items for a nature treasure basket – bring them back to the classroom to use in play and extend children’s learning.
  • Play in a mud kitchen.
  • Go on a walk and talk about what you can see/hear/smell.

Remember…

Children don’t even need to go on a walk to experience nature, as it’s everywhere! Even allowing children free time to explore an outside area attached to their classroom can open up a world of possibilities.

Almost any space can be used to encourage children to explore and get hands-on with the natural world, and the best thing is that it requires little to no resource preparation or planning!

Whilst it can be hard to fit ‘nature time’ into an already crowded timetable, we have noticed a huge improvement in our children’s language and physical development as well as their confidence and self-awareness since we started taking children out and giving them the freedom to explore nature independently.

In today’s world, it is more important than ever that children are given the opportunity to spend time playing outside – even 20 minutes can make a huge difference to their development and motivation to learn.


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Claire Martin is an early years teacher at the British International School of Boston (@BISBEarlyYears). Follow her on Twitter at @Clairemartin157.

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