Reflecting on What Outdoor Play is in Your Setting.

In a time where there is a rapidly growing disconnect between children and outdoor play, we, as early childhood educators play an important role in ensuring outdoor play doesn't become endangered. By working collaboratively to develop shared understandings about outdoor play, we are better positioned to be strong advocates for the important role that outdoor play has in early childhood.

So what exactly are we advocating for?

Each setting will have it's own unique take on outdoor play and why it is valuable in that particular context. This will be reflective of geographical location, access to different types of resources, the various climates in which we live and much more.  In order to establish a shared language around outdoor play, it is essential that we engage in critical reflection and professional discussions. These processes help us to challenge our thinking and promote positive change in collaborative ways. 

Image by Author: Emily Clark

Lately I have been working with a group of teachers to navigate this journey and have developed some reflective questions as a tool for this process. The questions are designed to guide conversations, facilitate reflective discussion and invite professional debate. 

What barriers prevent us from providing or accessing quality experiences in our outdoor space? Are they real or perceived barriers? How can we respond to/move/shape these barriers? 

How do our practices value or ignore certain learning environments over others and why? How can we ensure our practices aren’t casting shadows over certain learning spaces?

What types of learning do we see occurring in the outdoor spaces? How does this differ from our indoor setting? In what ways do they compliment each other?

What do the informing policies/philosophies/frameworks/research say about outdoor play? What parts of these informing documents are silenced or promoted in our setting? 


In what ways does our setting promote risk taking? Who determines what 'risk' is? In what ways are we risk adverse? 

What are your strengths and passions in the outdoor learning environment? How can these be used to compliment others and to enhance the experiences that occur there?

These questions have been part of a long term process of critical reflection around outdoor play and have evolved as we have moved through the process. The rich discussions that emerge from these are creating a strong foundation for understanding the benefits of outdoor play in individual contexts and how to best advocate for it. 

What questions guide you in your reflections around outdoor play? 

Reflection cards, like the one above, that have been guiding our thinking can be found here

Articles to further your thinking around outdoor and nature play can be found here

Outdoor Play in Australia: Undervalued and Underadvocated

It is no secret that rapidly changing social and environmental factors are having a significant impact on the changing culture of children’s play in today’s society. Part of this change has brought about a growing concern around childrens declining access to the outdoors. We exist in a time where the importance of outdoor play in early childhood educational contexts is increasingly a necessity.

This importance is reflected within both the NQF and the EYLF, where the outdoor environment is recognised as an important space for learning within early childhood settings. Additionally, there is a growing body of research highlighting the affordances of outdoor spaces (Little, 2017; Miranda, Larrea, Muela, Barandiaran, 2017; Torquati & Ernst,2013.). Despite this, it is argued that teachers often overlook the potential of the outdoors as a learning environment (Torquati & Ernst,2013). 

 In an attempt to understand what prevents us from using the outdoors to its full potential, I recently posed the following question to early childhood professionals across several social media platforms. 

What barriers do you face in your context that prevent or limit children from engaging in outdoor/nature play?

I was convinced that the key barrier would be aligned with attributes of physical environments, such as; artificial play spaces, limited space, building structures, lack of shade etc. While these issues were raised in the responses, I was surprised to discover that the dominant barriers were the attitudes of families and staff, which prevented using the outdoor space to its full potential. Some of the staff and parental concerns expressed included;

·       Children getting dirty.  

·       A belief that children should not access the outdoors in certain types of weather (e.g. rain, wind, cold). 

·       A belief that illnesses are caused from being outside. 

·       Aspects of outdoor play perceived as ‘too risky’ 

·       Difficulties in ensuring children are appropriately dressed

I don't doubt that many of us can recall a time when we have fielded these same concerns (or similar) and hesitations from others. It can be difficult territory to navigate, when the staff and families are yet to recognise the overwhelming benefits that come from affording children plentiful access to outdoor play experiences. However, this also opens up a window for us to engage in discussions, advocate for, and share knowledge about outdoor play. 

Karen Green’s article ‘Outdoor play in Australia: why has it become such a challenge to early childhood educators?’ addresses the above concerns, and calls for educators to equip themselves with knowledge in order to become stronger advocates for outdoor play. Karen also includes the ways in which she responds to staff and families about their concerns in a way that informs and promotes the importance of  outdoor play. 

Rather than seeing these attitudes as barriers, let's flip the script and view them as invitations to engage in discussions around outdoor play. In doing so, we create opportunities to advocate for the value of outdoor play, knowing that we are backed by the NQF, the EYLF and a wide range of research. How will you advocate for outdoor play today? 

Credit: All images are sourced from Pexels