Passion for outdoor play in the early years

The outdoors is a unique place, it is not the same as indoors. Young children will not be the same outdoors as when they are indoors. In the beginning of the year, I decided to start the session inside first, which made it easier for supervision. In Melbourne, one teacher and one co-educator work with a group of 20 children. While I need to greet and welcome at the gate, my co-educator have to be on her own with the children for around 10 minutes, until most children have arrived and then I come back to join her.

However, I noticed that a few children found it easier to find something to do when they were outside. A young boy felt comfortable when staying with the kinder rabbit. His grandmother always prepared some cut carrot strips for him to feed the rabbit, which had become his ritual. A girl, who has been confident and competent in climbing up and down the playground equipments, simply sat down looking into the emptiness when she was inside. Also, there were two boys who kept running around...

So, I decided to make a change and start the session outside, weather permitting. Since the change, I noticed a big improvement in the level of children's engagement. Previously, it took 45 minutes for everyone to settle down and be involved in an activity; and now everyone seem to be happy within the first 20 minutes. Also, when they move back from outside to inside, the children seem to be calmer.

It's true that the outdoors is a deeply engaging , special place for young children, where they are able to experience freedom as well as challenge themselves. when outdoors, children have room to be active, noisy, and messy.

My next post will cover some planning about my outdoor play.