Outdoor learning

Managing outdoor play

Manage outdoor play to ensure that its potential for learning, wellbeing, development and play is fully exploited.

Discuss logistic arrangements as a staff team, addressing factors such as: storage, moving and handling; door safety; supporting increased choice and flexibility of access.
Consider how adults can enhance play and learning outdoors through effective planning and interaction with children.
Ensure that children are aware of boundaries, potential risks and how to keep themselves and others safe.
Keep up a staff dialogue about what is happening outdoors: how is the space being used; what are the children saying and thinking; what can enhance the play?
Try to keep organisational factors flexible and adaptable. Evolve ways to support emerging interests and ideas: let the garden grow organically with the children.

Taking a solution-focused approach to developing outdoor play

Outdoor play often raises considerable discussion within staff teams. These are some of the topics that might be overheard:

There’s only two of us so we have to timetable outdoor play so that we can keep the right adult:child ratio at all times.
We cannot leave the door unlocked - a child might get out
It’s too cold to go out today.
The toy store is round the back - it’s too far for staff to carry the toys to the play area.
The parents do not like their children to get dirty.
It’s so much work getting the children dressed to go out - by the time they are all organised it’s time to come back in.
Our play area is outside the window of the Primary 1 class and the teacher says we distract her children.
We’ve already got so much to do - healthy eating, toothbrushing, not to mention covering the curriculum - we just do not get time to go out.
We have already got great physical play space and resources inside.
The toys and equipment get ruined outside.
We have a very old and very dangerous climbing frame that we cannot get taken down.
The playground is used at night by youths and sometimes there’s broken glass and litter left around.
We only have a square of concrete.
Sometimes the children do not want to come back inside again.

Finding solutions

You might find it helpful to Identify the problems or barriers that are relevant for your setting and then work together with parents and children to find ways to address them. None of the problems identified above are insurmountable and they cannot be bigger than the benefits children will derive from having the opportunity to play outside.

Visit other settings where similar challenges have been overcome and look around for ways to open up opportunities to your children. Play spaces outdoors do not require manufactured equipment. Money or bought resources cannot buy children the hands-on experience of the rustle of leaves, the smell of newly mown grass, light dappling through trees, the insides of a plant or a fruit, watching a snail trail or an ant colony, the splish-splash-splosh of puddles.

Developing an outdoor play area is an ideal way to involve your local community in a shared project. Never give up: there is so much to be gained from persevering.

Outdoor learning

Managing outdoor play

Taking a solution-focused approach to developing outdoor play

Finding solutions

Related links

Taking Learning Outdoors