It is extremely important that young children are given frequent and regular opportunities to explore and learn in the outdoor environment. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum, which covers children aged birth to the end of the Reception year, became statutory in September 2008 and places strong emphasis on the importance and value of daily outdoor experiences for children’s learning and development.
Did you know?
There are many benefits to taking young children beyond their immediate indoor environment. Take a look at some of them:
• Learning outside the classroom supports the development of healthy and active lifestyles by offering children opportunities for physical activity, freedom and movement, and promoting a sense of well-being.
• Outdoor play provides children with contact with the natural world and offers them experiences that are unique to outdoors, such as direct contact with the weather, plants and insects. It also helps children to understand and respect nature, the environment and can teach first hand experience of the interdependence of humans, animals, plants, and lifecycles.
• Spending time in the outdoors also supports children’s problem-solving skills and nurtures their creativity, as well as providing rich opportunities for their developing imagination, inventiveness and resourcefulness.
• Children need an outdoor environment that can provide them with space, both upwards and outwards, and places to explore, experiment, discover, be active and healthy, and to develop their physical capabilities. As the outdoor environment offers space, it is particularly beneficial to those children who learn best through active movement. Very young children learn predominately through their sensory and physical experiences which supports brain development and the creation of neural networks.
We thrive when we play in the outdoor area at Monteagle! We are very fortunate to have a large outdoor space where we get an extended periods of time to play and explore. Take a look at the endless learning opportunities we experience outside:
