• Design areas for appreciation of nature, where educators and children can observe the natural play environment and reflect on nature. By putting educational equipment outdoors, children are soon learning through play, which is a fun way of helping children to learn new information and skills. When children visit Forest School, they use mallets and even saws to undertake their tasks. Intellectual Benefits The natural world is a giant, open-ended learning laboratory. Outdoor play fosters children’s intellectual, emotional, social and physical development. A recent visit to Centennial College's Progress Campus Child Care in Toronto reminded us just how versatile Outlast outdoor blocks and ramps from Community Playthings are. • Encourage children and families to collect and bring recycled equipment and natural resources into the environment. Bring some music outdoors so that children can practice dancing, jumping, and twirling outdoors. Rousseau (1712-1758) and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) Rousseau and Pestalozzi, inspired by the former, were precursor theorists on outdoor play by introducing and sustaining the original idea according to which nature and the natural environment had a definite and positive role in the education of children. Children's outdoor play is different from time spent indoors. This will include She does not simply present us with ideas and activities for learning n nature. trucks to push, etc. Set up simple games. • Encourage children to care for plants by growing plants from seeds. The sensory experiences are different, and different standards of play apply. The Outdoor Classroom Project (OCP) is dedicated to increasing the quantity, quality, and benefit of outdoor experiences for children in early care and education programs through providing educational and consulting services on the value and design of engaging outdoor learning environments to teachers, administrators, and parents. Outlast are the only children’s wooden blocks that are specifically designed to last outdoors. 2. Set up obstacle Bringing the Outdoors, Indoors At Explorers, we also make an effort to bring the outdoors, indoors. The benefits of high-quality outdoor learning experiences quickly become apparent when the children are given the opportunity to take part in risk-assessed, but not risk-free activities. Waters describes a philosophy and an integrated approach to teaching, learning, and living with a garden. And by being outside and surrounded by nature, children experience an ever-changing and free-flowing environment that stimulates all the senses. We often use materials such as wood, shells, leaves, plants, stones and much more within our indoor learning experiences. The HAPPE (High Autonomy Physical Play Environment), provides a great list of games for toddlers that can be played outdoors. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you. Written by the venerable Alice Walters, the book offers a pedagogy to bringing outdoor learning into a child’s life. Children are encouraged to explore these materials and use them within their play. Activities which may be frowned on indoors can be safely tolerated outdoors. Creativity There’s been a lot of talk about getting kids outdoors since the publication in 2005 of Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Benefits first, risks second. Children have greater freedom not only to run and shout, but also to interact with and manipulate the environment. 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