Exploring Outdoor Play in the Early Years

Outdoor play is a perennially popular topic of interest amongst both students and practitioners and an essential (and compulsory) facet of early years practice. The aim of this text is to explore outdoor play in the early years focusing, in particular, on early years settings and young children aged [...]
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Outdoor play is a perennially popular topic of interest amongst both students and practitioners and an essential (and compulsory) facet of early years practice. The aim of this text is to explore outdoor play in the early years focusing, in particular, on early years settings and young children aged 0 to 7 years. The text is underpinned by recognition of children's agency and their right to participation whereby children are viewed as capable and competent individuals and learners, inhabiting different cultural contexts and communities. The text is structured in three sections. Having set the broad context, the first section explores why outdoor play is considered important in relation to young children's care and education today and in the past; how outdoor play supports the developing child; and what is seen as a 'good' outdoor environment according to children, adults and those working in the field. Section two focuses on policy and practice in the UK.Having explored the role of outdoor play in the different UK early years curricula, the text identifies a number of key issues: supporting child-initiated learning; providing for and managing risky play; working with Forest Schools; and how practitioners can get the most out of their outdoor spaces and learn about how children perceive their outdoor environments. The final section adopts an international perspective: it considers outdoor play in Scandinavia, New Zealand and Australia. Each chapter will consider, in relation to early years settings in their country/culture, themes addressed in previous chapters. For example: the role of outdoor play in young children's lives, development and education (past and present, in education policy and more broadly); children's access to outdoor environments and the nature of these environments; what children do when outdoors; issues related to risky play and how the child is viewed in relation to risk. A concluding chapter summarizes key themes and considers the implications for early years practice.