The Benefits of Time Spent Learning Outdoors for Children

Holistic plans support children’s access to outdoor play because they are looked at as a whole and they are not restricted from any activity. All children are able to play outdoors and be able to do adult led activities and child initiative activities. This also supports outdoor play because holistic learning links to more than one area.

“The most practical and the most feasible solution offered, and the one on which this paper will center, involves the schoolyard. The schoolyard habitat movement, which promotes the “greening” of school grounds, is quickly gaining international recognition and legitimacy.” This quote touches on the fact that currently our schools need to “greened” meaning nature needs to be implemented not on the sidelines of fields but rather right in the center for kids to explore. There are many studied showing how children’s connection with nature at a young age helps them have a strong connection with nature along with having better health and lesser chances of depression. There are many organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, Council for Environmental Education, American Forest Foundation, Britain-based Learning through Landscapes, Canadian-based Evergreen, and Swedish-based Skolans Uterum, that have all expresses interest in helping out with this cause. A theory that is very interesting that relates to this issue is a theory by Edward Wilson from Harvard. He had a theory that he named biophilia. Basically what this theory was about was that all people are simply drawn to nature by their very instinct. This quote has a lot of truth to it. Almost all

Choosing what direction to take on our self-direct learning assignment was based on our interest in children and the environment. More specifically that children are losing their interest in nature by spending more time on technology, instead of being outside. We believed that there is an importance in teaching children in and about the environment. There are positives to have children engaging in nature early on. Not only are there positive but children can have a better educational experience in nature. As well as have fun and be safe. In the Background section, we will be discussing the research and findings on outdoor learning for children. In the Process section, we will be evaluating the process and product of the self-direct learning assignment.

“Outdoor education is in line with current thinking, but also echo’s the philosophy of the McMillan sisters. Practitioners today should be aware of the opportunities afforded by outdoor provision, not only in terms of developing children’s learning, but also with positive benefits to their health” (Cooper 2004)

When exploring water and gardens, it is important to apply the EYLF to children’s learning and development. Outcome two, children are connected with and contribute to their world allows children to develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities, respond to diversity with respect, be aware of fairness, and show respect for the environment (DEEWR, 2009). By developing these outcomes children begin to broaden their understanding of the world they live in. This can be explored by providing children with opportunities to explore the environment through gardening or water play and promote positive responses

Outdoor Education in KS3 and KS4 involves different adventurous activities that can be accomplished either as an individual or in a group. These activities include things such as: residential visits, orienteering, climbing, caving, team building, problem solving and many more. It generally provides depth to the curriculum which makes an important contribution to pupil’s physical, personal and social education (OFSTED, 2004; Priest and Gass, 1997). In order for these activities to be successful and meet the National Curriculum (NC), teachers must make sure all KS3 pupils are taking part in these outdoor adventurous activities (OAA), whilst being intellectually and physically challenged (National Curriculum, 2014). The two schemes of work presented are aimed to meet these NC subject content targets. They are two very different schemes of work but they both provide opportunities for pupils which challenge them both physically and mentally. The year 8 scheme of work focuses on a variety of different OAA activities that can be progressed and developed throughout each lesson and over the period of time they are in school. The content challenges the pupils thinking throughout the whole six weeks, developing the way they think to solve particular problems. Whereas, the year 9 scheme of work primarily focuses on the planning and preparation for a Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) expedition which will be carried out at the end of the term.

My central idea for this topic is for my audience to be aware that spending time outdoors is important for the body and mind and helps you relieve stress more so than having not to spend time outdoors. Spending more time outdoors can be done in many ways and it is healthy for your body.

Nature should play a massive role in a kid’s life. Even though, in today’s society, it is hard to do so. Being

This week’s article by MacQuarrie, Nugent and Warden (2015) looks at nature-based learning across several countries. It highlights key aspects and concerns of nature-based learning voiced by the participants of the study. When reading this article I took the stance that relationships are an important element when learning with nature and with others (MacQuarrie et al., 2015). I took this stance, as I believe that relationships within early learning are the key foundation to building a supportive and engaging learning environment that includes children, families, communities and educators.

Finding ways to keep students interested in schoolwork and increasing their cognitive abilities has been a constant struggle for teachers. It is common knowledge that when a child’s interest wanes, it becomes harder for them to learn and retain knowledge on the subject. One tool that can be used to combat this issue would be the use of an outdoor classroom or learning outdoors. During the late 60’s and 70’s outdoor education was highly recommended in curriculum guidelines to enrich educational experiences, but later declined in the 80’s (Eaton, 1998). Today, outdoor education only plays a small role in children’s education experiences, despite the benefits it could provide. Teachers should take advantage of outdoor education to increase children’s cognitive skills, provide physical and emotional benefits, and decrease the bio phobia many children seemed to have developed.

There are a whole lot of programs or curriculums out there that try to talk about the environmental and academic needs of children. In this paper, I will try my best to discuss the five components of the

surroundings. Playing outside is a learning experience that children need to have every day. The grass

Surveys show that in various exercise programs, participants reported a higher level of satisfaction and enjoyment when the sessions were held outside. These positive effects can be supported by several other studies that demonstrate the restoration from mental fatigue and stress due to nature’s influence. Overall, these participants experienced a revitalization resulting in higher self-esteem, engagement, vitality, enjoyment, and adherence. Scientifically, nature has been proven to positively influence the cognitive functions of various individuals. Researchers Hartig, Morg, and Evans found within a group of students that, depending on their choice of place for vacation, the environment proved to have impact on their proofreading performance. They compared a group of students who participated within a backpacking trip to a group of students who remained in urban areas for vacations, and found that the individuals that backpacked for that short period of time actually experienced higher levels of improvement in their proofreading performance. There are various more studies that further support the theory that utilizing nature as an instructional environment provides more meaningful learning. A study within Sweden showed that children who experienced the outdoors during day care displayed greater motor coordination and better attentional

Grigg and Lewis (2016, p. 19) define learning outside the classroom as “children learning about people, their heritage and the natural environment, largely through play and first-hand experiences, in a wide range of contexts beyond the classroom.” Learning outside the classroom enables teachers to bring the curricula alive by integrating the school grounds and the local landscape into their teaching (Beames et al., 2012). It is important that children are given more opportunities to explore the natural world as there is no doubt that there are many benefits to outdoor learning. Furthermore, according to the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto:

This should be firmly implanted in a child’s mind so that he may constantly be aware that man has a special responsibility to protect Nature. Students should be made aware of their responsibility and duty towards protecting nature and prevent its wanton destruction which unfortunately seems to be order of the day. Some simple practices like encouraging planting of trees periodically in their neighbourhood, watering the plants and nurturing them, digging pits for rain water harvesting should be taught. These and other would foster in a child caring and sharing attitude towards nature and life on earth and a deep appearance of the flora and fauna.