Play In Natural Outdoor Environments: A Natural Choice

There are many advantages to child-initiated play. Children’s emotional development is particularly supported because children are able to make their own choices. They also gain independence skills as they can help themselves to resources. This type of play helps children to be creative as they have to develop their own ideas of how to play indoors and outdoors.

Children need to experiment outdoors as there is so much to learn. Children can learn in each of the areas and develop their skills. During play children are learning to socialise with each other, playing in small groups and taking turns which builds there confidence up. They also develop their motor skills through playing outdoors, running, jumping, walking and crawling. Children will learn to take risks

Practitioners who show good practice understand the early years educators theories and take inspiration from them. They also identify the benefits of outdoor play and promote it at their settings for children’s learning and development.

Also it is important that children have the opportunities to experience risk and challenge play as this is important for children's and young people's play and learning. It is important that children and young people are given the opportunities for risk and challenge play as it will help give children a better understanding of what is safe and unsafe such as if they was to touch something hot they will know not to do it again because they will know they will burn them self. Some parents do not let their children take risk and challenges as they think its to dangerous for the children. When practitioners provide opportunities for risk and challenge play it is important that it is taken place in a safe environment. Also when risk and challenge

“The developed world deprives children of a basic and inalienable right: unstructured outdoor play. Children today have substantially less access to nature, less free range, and less time for independent play than previous generations had.” This quote is from the research based paper titled, “Where the Wild Things Should Be: Healing Nature Deficit Disorder through the Schoolyard." This article touches many aspects of how children now a days need more exposure to nature like it was on the older days. Currently, there are many playgrounds around the United States and even more the world. This article is trying to bring awareness to the problem of if playgrounds do not have enough nature or is too safe then it is

Physical activity is important to the short term and long term health and well being of children. In the short term physical activity helps children to build muscle, develops the skeletal frame, develops the heart and lung function and helps to prevent obesity. If children have enough physical activity a day which is said to be up to an hour it can help the children get to sleep easier and for longer periods of time, this can then lead onto long term benefits as if the activity is in the garden it will also help the child to build up a good immune system so they will be less likely to fall ill to the common cold or the flu. This outdoor environment helps the over all wellbeing of the children as the outdoors makes them

The theme of this reflective account is engaging children in participation, and enabling children to have a voice. The Every child matters documentation (Department for Education 2010) focuses on the important role of the adult in enabling children to make decisions and encouraging them to participate and make a positive contribution. As a result through this account, how children in my setting are encouraged to participate in the outdoor play space will be explored. A small piece of research was carried out which will be reflected on, as will theory relating to children making a positive contribution in the early years.

The practitioner in an early years setting supporting children’s play learning and development is extremely important, as play helps stimulate the child’s brain, supports their needs on an educational level, as well as helping them with social difficulties such as building relationships, developing them and helping them gain confidence. Many people believe that a child learns best when they are motivated, such as Fredrich Froebel. He believed that children benefitted from all types of play. The McMillan sisters believed that outdoor play was extra important as they studied children who played and slept outside and discovered that they were the happier and healthier children in comparison to those who only played inside.

Preference for outdoor play. Child A plays mostly outdoors as he believes it is more fun, and loves to investigate the surroundings. The choice of indoor play is often related to the weather, child A only plays inside when its cold or raining. It is only in severe weather conditions children have to stay in doors as in our setting we believe the children can learn and develop much more outside even when the weather is poor. Play preferences are the child’s own choices & the freedom & opportunities to be able to make those choices by enabling varied resources that are

Children and Young people need to be allowed to explore their environment and learn for themselves, but that environment must be safe and as healthy as possible for them to be able to play and learn.

The Squat Oinochoe was found in Corinth, Greece. It is believed that it was made around 590-570 BCE which places this piece of pottery in the Archaic Period of Greece. When it was discovered in Corinth, it was obvious it was influenced greatly due to the cultural interactions between the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean regions during the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. The vase has feral goats, panthers, creatures, and oriental styled floral motifs on the body and shoulder of the vase.

In the United States there are “2,300,000 people are in jails or prisons today. Incarceration is one of the most common forms of punishment in the country for those who choose to commit crimes. This number includes those who are jailed for a short period and are released on probation, as well as those who are doing time for the rest of their lives. (soapboxie, 2016).

Article 24 Play and recreation activities can play a significant role in fulfilling the child’s right to “the highest attainable standard of health” and to “preventive health care”,

There are multiple factors in a child’s development. Parents have a responsibility, as well as a privilege, to contribute to every milestone. Most parents stress over physical and mental stages so much so that play-time is ignored. By making decisions that sacrifice play parents hinder their social development. Parents must take action and encourage their youth to play more, before childhood is lost forever.

As children grow they continue to need physical activity. One of the methods of exercise that is popular with children in the middle childhood age is rough and tumble play or ‘play fighting’ (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010). Unfortunately, this sort of play is often discouraged by schools because of the possibility that someone may become injured. (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010). Teachers must find the balance between protecting children from getting hurt and allowing them to run and jump to release the copious amounts of energy that they have to burn (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010).