Preschools without walls: why children need outdoor play

Preschools without walls: why children need outdoor play

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“Historically, outdoor spaces in pre-school facilities have been the last thing to be considered,” he says. “Hence, many pre-schools are left with inadequate or non-existent outdoor play spaces.

“So we need it to become instinctive among professionals to immediately consider the provision of a decent outdoor play area when constructing, designing or managing a pre-school.”

“The benefits of outdoor play are multi-faceted and span the entire gambit of a child’s development; physical, mental, sensory and social,” he says.  “Through play, children make sense of their world – infants and toddlers investigate and learn during this sensory motor stage of development.

“This means they are learning through their senses and through movement. Outdoors, children’s senses are naturally stimulated through the ever-changing sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch of the world. “As their bodies and minds grow and develop, outdoors provides endless opportunities for new experiences which are unavailable inside.”......

“And it’s now a tempting option to hand a child a tablet or mobile phone rather than to bring them outside – the instant engagement screens provide for children is to the detriment of outdoor play.