Experts call for official guidelines on child screen use | Society | The Guardian

Experts call for official guidelines on child screen use | Society | The Guardian

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"A group of leading authors, educationalists and child-development experts is calling on the government to introduce national guidelines on the use of screens, amid concern about the impact on children’s physical and mental health.... It calls for the development of kindergarten-style education for three- to seven-year-olds, with emphasis on social and emotional development and outdoor play; and says guidelines on screen-based technology for children up to 12 should be drawn up by recognised authorities on child health and development.......“If children are to develop the self-regulation and emotional resilience required to thrive in modern technological culture, they need unhurried engagement with caring adults and plenty of self-directed outdoor play, especially during their early years (0–7),”"

A breath of fresh air: City of Grand Rapids aims to reconnect children with nature

A breath of fresh air: City of Grand Rapids aims to reconnect children with nature

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

An annual event hosted by the mayor's youth council, KidsSpeak brings together local children to focus on a particular issue, ultimately creating written testimonies that are presented to the community....... Some nervous and some polished, these student presenters bravely expressed their thoughts about the city's natural areas, saying, "green spaces are not something you can brush aside" and "losing [green things] in the city means losing our compassion for the world around us, and ultimately, each other." Many expressed regret over the loss of their connection to nature and time spent in parks and playgrounds. "We don't play outside anymore," said one presenter. "We are disregarding natural spaces more and more."

One younger student expressed her views clearly and with conviction. "No playgrounds? Don't ever say no playgrounds to me," she said. "How would the city look like if there were no trees, flowers or wildlife?…It would look dark and gloomy." ..... "My hope for this city is that we not only maintain our parks, but proliferate them. Through that we can allow more children to have experiences of joy and compassion…If we understand the world around us. We can understand each other better,"

Vancouver-area children take learning to the forest | Metro News

Vancouver-area children take learning to the forest | Metro News

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"Learning outdoors helps children understand their "ability to navigate risks" and increases their physical capacity, said Edgar. It helps them "feel strong and powerful and offers them a positive social environment." Outdoor learning has also been associated with improved concentration and cognitive development.

Forest schools differ from more traditional outdoor education in that they offer repeated access to a natural space, centred around child-led, play-based learning, "observing the child's interests, documenting them, and then introducing items that foster interest," Edgar said."

How to Raise an Environmentalist by Jill Suttie — YES! Magazine

How to Raise an Environmentalist by Jill Suttie — YES! Magazine

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

But how do we encourage people—especially our kids—to care more and take action? Scientists are starting to uncover how to encourage that compassionate concern in children......... Research indicates that motivating people to care takes more than just reciting facts and making doomsday predictions. Instead, it requires promoting compassionate concern for our natural world, which comes from early contact with nature, empathy for our fellow creatures, and a sense of wonder and fascination. Specifically, scientists are starting to uncover how to encourage that compassionate concern in children, so that it will translate into pro-environmental behavior down the road—and this research comes not a moment too soon.

The Cognitive Benefits of Kindergarten in the Forest - The Atlantic

The Cognitive Benefits of Kindergarten in the Forest - The Atlantic

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"Something like Forest Friday makes a big difference to some kids, according to Minnucci. Once, she had a boy in her classroom who had a “hard time in preschool,” and during the first few days of kindergarten, whenever he’d catch himself daydreaming, he’d push himself to make intense eye contact with her—a strategy his preschool teacher had taught him.

“He already knew he didn’t fit the mold,” Minnucci told me, but when they started their Forest Friday routine, “he did so well outside.” He began to love kindergarten, and his confidence surged; the forest had given him a place where he could succeed. He became so enthusiastic about school that the night before Forest Friday, his mother reported to Minnucci, he’d lay out all of his clothes."

Today's four-year-olds often 'not physically ready' for school, experts warn | The Independent

Today's four-year-olds often 'not physically ready' for school, experts warn | The Independent

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

“Children today are moving less, they’re developing less well, and they’re learning less; we need to do something drastic to make sure children now and in the future get the movement they need to develop properly physically, intellectually and emotionally."

The amazing Aussie early learning centre that gives children wings

The amazing Aussie early learning centre that gives children wings

 The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"We’ve featured some incredible children’s centres over the years – Swedish architectural masterpieces, bright and fun learning spaces in Berlin and groundbreaking kindergarten designs in Paris – but we’re pretty chuffed that Australia can lay claim to this stunner. Purpose-built to inspire and thrill, this early learning centre gives children in New South Wales a place to soar.

It’s drummed into us as parents that in the early years children learn through play. Yes, letters and numbers are important, but even more significant is fostering a love of knowledge. The Green Elephant Early Learning Centre has created the perfect environment to do just that. And it just so happens to be every child’s dream play space."

Love this. 

Sustainable Learning, Uruguay-Style

Did you ever go to camp as a kid? In Uruguay, they've brought the camp right into school.

Watch: Sir Ken Robinson shares five reasons you should take your class outside | News

Watch: Sir Ken Robinson shares five reasons you should take your class outside | News


The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"What really drives education is curiosity, trying to fill gaps in our understanding," Sir Ken says, author of Finding Your Element and other books on creativity in education. "And the world around us is a tremendous resource to stimulate that curiosity."

He lists five reasons why taking learning outdoors is a good idea:
Nature is a powerful resource.
Children can learn through practical hands-on activities.
You can tap into children's curiosity.
It is a social experience and children learn from working together.
Learning outdoors is fun.

"Education takes up a great deal of children's time," Sir Ken adds. "This is their childhood, the only one they get and learning outdoors, working together, playing together is fun. It's about the quality of our lives and experiences."

Outdoor Experiences for Girls Really Do Matter | Nature Rocks

https://www.natureworkseverywhere.org/home/

The full article can be read through the hyperlinks above

A bloody fantastic site. Everything you would ever need to link nature into your curriculum include a facility to design your own school garden.

  

Terraced wooden nursery school brings the Japanese landscape indoors Hakusui Nursery School

Terraced wooden nursery school brings the Japanese landscape indoors Hakusui Nursery School by Yamazaki Kentaro Design Workshop – Inhabitat 

The full article can be read through the hyperlinks above

Yamazaki Kentaro Design Workshop was challenged to design a nursery school that not only included a variety of programmed spaces but also minimized the number of blind spots for safety reasons.

Outdoor learning: the secret to improving behaviour in schools | WWF education partner zone | The Guardian

Outdoor learning: the secret to improving behaviour in schools | WWF education partner zone | The Guardian

The full article can be read through the hyperlinks above

Photograph: Alamy

“It’s all about purpose. Simply letting a class of 30 outdoors for a lesson does not make it learning. The children need boundaries, to be channelled with some clear tasks – but the difference is that nearly all of them will respond to being outside,” she says, remembering a time when her year 5 pupils spent time outdoors measuring angles on playground equipment and learning simple algebra using leaves and twigs. “Afterwards, every single pupil knew their angles and the basic premise of algebra – it was wonderful to see.”

Get Inspired - Empty Classroom Day

Get Inspired - Empty Classroom Day


The full article can be read through the hyperlinks above

"Learning goes WILD on Friday 17th June as part of Empty Classroom Day – a GLOBAL campaign to celebrate and inspire outdoor learning and play!

This is the perfect antidote to the testing culture – anyone that has seen the effect of taking children outdoors to learn and play in the real world around them knows how powerful such experiences can be.

Our aim is to get as many children as possible outside for at least one lesson in the school day and for playtimes to be celebrated too.  Sign up to be part of Empty Classroom Day today!"

Outdoor learning 'boosts children's development' - BBC News

Outdoor learning 'boosts children's development' - BBC News

The full article can be read through the hyperlinks above

"Ms Waite added that the report showed that although there was a significant body of research that supports outdoor learning in both formal and informal contexts, it was likely to remain on the margins of education until the benefits were recognised by policymakers and reflected in policies."

Report identifies ways to boost children's quality of life through outdoor learning | EurekAlert! Science News

Report identifies ways to boost children's quality of life through outdoor learning | EurekAlert! Science News

The full article can be read through the hyperlinks above

"This report maps the evidence to encourage researchers and policy makers to meet at the interface of research and policy in order to shape a positive future for our children. While the report was funded and supported by agencies in the UK, the lessons learnt resonate for most high income nations around the world, particularly in Australia, where the political landscape and its impact on funding for programs in schools for outdoor learning are comparable. The report should be taken up and read widely by researchers, educators and policy makers connected to the field of outdoor education, health and physical education and sustainability and environmental education."

Click on the links below to read the report

Student outcomes and natural schooling pathways to impact 2016

Playgrounds and the Importance of Play | Iowa Public Radio

Playgrounds and the Importance of Play | Iowa Public Radio

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"Kids are 71 percent less involved in outdoor activities now than they were ten years ago," says Dr. Stuart Brown, founding director of the National Institute for Play. "To me it's a public health issue. The benefits of play need to be understood both for personal health, brain development, and social competency. We don't somehow see play as being connected to that and yet it is."




Listen to the full radio interview from the link below

Click here for the Radio Iowa Interview  

Nature Play launched in Canberra, encouraging more children to play outside

Nature Play launched in Canberra, encouraging more children to play outside

The full article can be read through the hyperlinks above

Image is the property of Canberra Times

"Play is the ultimate brain food and kids thrive on play. What's happening, sadly, is that play being replaced by entertainment and the key difference is entertainment is created by someone else and it's largely a passive activity..... Play is when kids are active, they're imagining, they're working together".

Brazil’s Instituto Alana Releases Children and Nature Project to Reconnect Kids with the Natural Environment | Children & Nature Network

Brazil’s Instituto Alana Releases Children and Nature Project to Reconnect Kids with the Natural Environment | Children & Nature Network

http://criancaenatureza.org.br/

The full article can be read through the hyperlinks above

“The reconnecting of children with nature is still a diffuse and unstructured debate. We want to communicate society the importance and positive impacts that direct experience and contact of children with nature brings, explains Lais Fleury, director of the Project Children and Nature. Today there is scientific evidence that prove these benefits. For Lais it’s important to highlight the admiration for the natural universe, expressed in their dreams, drawings, and love for animals. The liberty that the outdoor environment offers satisfies the genuine desire that a child has to run, jump and get dirty, creating possibilities of experimentation with nature and giving incentive to his/her creativity and imagination through contact with the natural elements."

Learning for Life: Creating quiet spaces.

Learning for Life: Creating quiet spaces.

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above
It is really lovely to read a piece where an experienced educator observes the purpose and effect that quiet areas have within a playground. The idea that all children want to engage in active activity all the time is often touted by to me by people who haven't actually spent time with children and are unaware of childrens developmental needs.

Image is the property of Kierna Corr

" In a noisy and busy playground I think it is very important to provide areas within the space where children can retreat to when they need to be quieter or more reflective. Sometimes the children will create their own spaces within areas too - we have a pallet den at the back of the slide and some days it is used as space to just sit and read books whilst on other days it is a busy hub of climbing children. Our willow dens have really bloomed in the last few dry weeks and the children are enjoying going into them to have conversations and be away from the business of the wider playground. It is lovely to hear snatches of conversation from within them or singing etc. as two or three children gather inside them.

Nature-Play-Learning-Places_storefront_preview_0.pdf

Nature-Play-Learning-Places_storefront_preview_0.pdf

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"Children must spend more time outdoors—for
their good health and the health of our planet. If
children don’t move enough, their bodies will not
develop in a healthy manner. If children don’t grow up engaged with nature, chances are they will never understand human dependency on the natural world.  Nature play is defined as a learning process, engaging children in working together to develop physical skills, to exercise their imaginations, to stimulate poetic expression, to begin to understand the workings of the world around them."

Royal Park's Nature Play named nation's best playground by landscape architects

Royal Park's Nature Play named nation's best playground by landscape architects

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"A Melbourne children's playground designed to encourage risk-taking - through rocky outcropped terraces and lofty climbing ropes - has been crowned the nation's best. It is known as Nature Play and sits in Royal Park, next to the Royal Children's Hospital. ......Built for $5.5 million and opened last March, the park has 1200 trees, gullies, grasslands and a hill with dramatic city views. And, to the chagrin of many parents and the delight of their children, the park also includes a water play area encouraging kids to work together to pump and dam water, before finally being released it into a sandpit......Special team wheeling a patient in a hospital bed or wheelchair to the edge of play areas."

Ontario study sends kindergartners into the forest to find out if nature helps them learn | Toronto Star

Ontario study sends kindergartners into the forest to find out if nature helps them learn | Toronto Star

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

Photo property of Col Burston /Toronto Star

"While we intuitively know green space is good, it doesn’t get priority when push comes to shove in terms of time and money. Research is mounting that green space is not just an accessory. It’s actually a necessity, an important component of healthy living. But policy-makers always look for quantitative evidence to make those decisions. If they can point to a study that says it’s important then they’ll make it a priority."

Miracle on the Mountain Play Outside Park to provide environment for kids with disabilities | Nooga.com

Miracle on the Mountain Play Outside Park to provide environment for kids with disabilities | Nooga.com

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

"Outdoor play is an essential part of childhood, providing time and space for kids to imagine, climb, run, socialize and explore in the great outdoors. But for many children with disabilities, outdoor play is often enjoyed from the sidelines. However, a new park on the South Cumberland Plateau is making outdoor fun available to children of all abilities."

Adding natural elements to playgrounds can help depression in kids: study | CTV News

Adding natural elements to playgrounds can help depression in kids: study | CTV News

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

'Populating a playground with natural elements that feature sand, grass and water can help reduce signs of depression in children, according to research by the University of British Columbia.'

Swings, slides and iPads: the gaming companies targeting kids' outdoor play | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian

Swings, slides and iPads: the gaming companies targeting kids' outdoor play | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

Yeah, I'm one of those people who thinks that playspaces should be technology free. How do you develop your own imaginative in play if you (a child ) are restricted by a computer programs narrative?
And have a look at the associated video's they leave me spout-raged ,speechless and outraged at the same time. 

Three-quarters of UK children now spend less time outside than prison inmates, according to a new survey, with the lure of digital technology partly to blame. But, in a world where gaming and screen time are an everyday reality, could the right technology actually get more kids to play outdoors?

Hybrid Play is a Spanish start-up which uses augmented reality (AR) – patching computer imagery on to real life – to transform playgrounds into video games. A wireless sensor resembling an over-sized clothes peg clips onto any piece of playground equipment. It then registers the movement of the children as they play and converts it into video games to play through a smartphone. Demonstration of Hybrid Play

Co-founder Clara Boj says she is aware that many people think playgrounds should be technology free: “But our hybrid games are designed to put physical playing at the centre of the experience, not technology.”

Madison kick off plans to Connect Children to Nature | Madison Commons

Madison kick off plans to Connect Children to Nature | Madison Commons

The full article can be read through the hyperlink above

“Each [child] can develop a sense of belonging in the natural world and ability to recognize one’s power in the community and identify as a steward of the environment,” Svingen said. “Access to nature and green spaces has the ability to heal wounds of stress.”

Working with nature to create better buildings | News | Eco-Business | Asia Pacific

Working with nature to create better buildings | News | Eco-Business | Asia Pacific

The full article and more pictures can be obtained from the hyperlink above

"It is really about taking a design approach that strengthens the connection with nature and these ideas can start from the ground up."

Here's What the Rooftop Healing Garden at Children's National Will Look Like | Washingtonian

Here's What the Rooftop Healing Garden at Children's National Will Look Like | Washingtonian

The full article and more pictures can be obtained from the hyperlink above

The last wish of a patient at Children’s National was to go outside–but the complex life support treatments that the child’s condition required made it a complicated dream for her doctors, nurses, and the biomedical staff to fulfill.

“That child really inspired us to say that every single child, who is complex or not, should deserve the privilege of being outside,” says Kathleen Gorman, COO at Children’s National.

.

Thus, the idea for a 7,200-square-foot rooftop garden, equipped with electrical outlets to power treatments and therapies, was born. Though the rooftop garden was first suggested about four years ago, it wasn’t until just recently that adequate funds were raised, allowing construction to begin.

Richmond Made A Playground Risky. Now Another Community Is Following Suit.

Richmond Made A Playground Risky. Now Another Community Is Following Suit.

The full article and more pictures and a video can be obtained from the hyperlink above

'The goal is "to raise a generation of kids that feel comfortable with trying new things and being creative and feel comfortable failing," UBC professor Mariana Brussoni told CTV.

Learning how to handle risks teaches kids how to "protect themselves in challenging environments," according to University of Texas professor Joe Frost. "The view that children must somehow be sheltered from all risks of injury is a common misconception of adults."

"The view that children must somehow be sheltered from all risks of injury is a common misconception of adults," he wrote in a 2006 paper. Frost said that limiting kids' outdoor play can harm them later in life during an interview with the Journal of Play two years later. "It limits their physical fitness, hurts their health, and reduces learning and the ability to cope with trauma," the professor said. "Research shows that when children engage in free, spontaneous play outdoors, they adapt more readily to their culture, to society, and to the world. They build fine and gross motor skills. They learn to negotiate and solve problems. They stretch their imagination."

Syrian Children Delight In A Subterranean Damascus Playground, Safe From Civil War Shelling

Syrian Children Delight In A Subterranean Damascus Playground, Safe From Civil War Shelling

The full article and more pictures can be obtained from the hyperlink above

I'd written a blog post recently about how sometimes environmental concerns can force childrens playspaces to be built undercover. At the time I hadn't considered bombing or biological warfare to be one of those concerns. More power to the people and organisation who constructed this beautiful playspace.

Embed from Getty Images

'Children in Damascus are able to play safely from the shelling in the streets above thanks to an underground playground constructed by activists. The subterranean park, which was built in Ghouta in the eastern part of the capital city, allows the city's youth to have a glimpse of a normal childhood away from the bloodshed of the civil war... at least for a while.'

I'd written a blog post recently about how sometimes environmental concerns can force childrens to be built undercover. At the time I hadn't considered bombing or biological warfare to be one of those concerns. More power to the people and organisation who constructed this beautiful playspace.

Sneak peak tour of the newest Green Elephant Early Learning Centre - Waterloo

Once again it was a total pleasure working with Greg And Effie to create a design for this purpose built centre. It makes a great difference to have owners and architects who are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic to embrace the benefits of natural play environments. I have previously discussed the emergence in Sydney of centres such as this in my post Childcare playspace design response to population density changes.  This centre sits within a large complex and helps to define the space, adds to the total greenspace and provides a homelike environment for children of families who live and work in the area.