Outdoor Play for Healthy Little Minds

Practical Ideas to Promote Children’s Wellbeing in the Early Years

Sarah Watkins

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367683443
• eBook ISBN: 9781000467178
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

This essential resource is designed to help busy early years practitioners to support the mental health of young children through outdoor play.

Promoting social and emotional wellbeing in childhood has never been more important, and outdoor play is a crucial tool to build resilience, develop healthy relationships, and boost self-esteem. Using relatable case studies that demonstrate achievable change, the book is full of practical advice and strategies for exploring nature in both natural and man-made landscapes, and includes guidance on how to co-create inviting play spheres with children.

Each chapter provides:

• Adaptable and cost-effective activities designed to help children feel more confident and connected to the world around them.
• Case studies and reflective opportunities to prompt practitioners to consider and develop their own practice.
• An accessible and engaging format with links to theorists, risk assessment, and individual schemas.

Outdoor play allows young children to explore who they are and what they can do. It supports them as they learn to think critically, take risks, and form a true sense of belonging with their peers and with the wider community. This is an indispensable resource for practising and trainee early years practitioners, Reception teachers, and childminders as they facilitate outdoor play in their early years setting.

1 Green is good

DOI: 10.4324/9781003137023-1

Wellbeing themes in this chapter:

Belonging…Mindfulness…Physical movement…Resilience…Connectedness…Senses…Restoration

“Inside is stuffy. Outside there are no limits. You can just run free.” Emily

Introduction

“What would our lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?” (Richard Louv, 2012)

We all need to feel connected to nature in order to feel good and function well (Richardson et al., 2019), and regular opportunities to play in nature improve children’s emotional wellbeing, particularly if the environment includes ‘wild’ spaces rather than just adult-friendly manicured outdoor areas.

You’re much more likely to see deeper engagement in natural spaces that are less ‘managed’ because nature provides complex exploration opportunities that are difficult to replicate. When we enable children to ‘go wild,’ they get sensory feedback from long grasses and feel joy at splashing in puddles. They improve their fine motor skills from picking weeds and work on their proprioception skills by tackling different gradients. They experience increased freedom and independence in secret spaces and develop spatial awareness by swinging from branches. Even in settings where there is limited access to wild areas, we can still enable nature to nurture children, as you will see.

Healthy mind…

“Being outside lets you relax your brain.” Emily

If you imagine a place that brings you peace, you’re probably thinking of a natural space. When I feel overwhelmed, I pull on my walking boots and walk until I feel calm again. Even as little as five minutes of ‘green exercise’ can improve mood and self-esteem (National Trust, 2020), and ‘nature connectedness’ is linked to lower depression and anxiety levels (National Trust, 2020). Biologist Edward O. Wilson proposed that we’re drawn to nature because in the past it helped us survive (Wilson, 1984). Our wellbeing is intricately connected with nature – perhaps we can see children’s need to play with water and soil, and their fascination with fire, as an instinctive urge to connect with what nourishes them.

I remember once feeling so overwhelmed that I had to stop my car on a bridge over a river. I was struggling with my mental health due to the stressful nature of my job at the time, and this was affecting my physical health too. As I looked out over the gently moving water, two swans emerged from under the bridge and drifted slowly down the river. Focusing on this scene gave me the sense of perspective I needed, and I felt the weight lifting from my shoulders. I resolved to find a different job and handed in my notice shortly afterwards.

Attention restoration theory

The impact of natural environments on mood, state of mind, and health has been studied by Professors Rachel and Stephen Kaplan for over 20 years. They’ve concluded that time in nature helps our brains recover from stress and also improves focus and concentration. Their attention restoration theory (ART) suggests that our attention is divided into two parts – directed and involuntary – and interactions with a natural environment allow our directed attention to rest. Studies have found that a 20-minute walk in a park restores attentional fatigue for many children with ADHD, producing effects similar to those of Ritalin (Faber Taylor and Kuo, 2009). According to attention restoration theory, there are four stages of attention along the way to recovery:

• Clearer head or concentration. At this stage, we let go of thoughts, worries, and concerns that are demanding our attention.
• Mental fatigue recovery. We can feel drained and mentally exhausted by activities that require focused and directed attention, and this stage allows directed attention to recover and to be restored to normal levels.
• Soft fascination or interest. A low-stimulation activity enables us to be gently distracted and engaged, reducing the internal noise and providing a quiet internal space to relax.
• Reflection and restoration. We’re able to relax, restore our attention, and focus on what really matters by spending a longer period of time in an appropriate natural environment (Kaplan and Kaplan, 1989).

Without this time in nature, our stress and fatigue levels are likely to increase. Children do need the opportunity to run, jump, climb, and ride bikes, but they also benefit from a mindful approach outdoors. Co-regulation is essential for very young children who are learning to regulate their emotions, or older children who struggle with this, and engaging in mentally restorative activities outside together is valuable.

Time to reflect:

Can you recall a time when you went through these stages? Can you picture yourself in that natural environment? Perhaps you have a place that you visit regularly to clear your mind and find peace?

Mindfulness outdoors

One wet and windy morning, I took a nursery class out to their Forest School area. As we tramped across the school field, located in the middle of a housing estate, a buzzard with a wingspan almost the size of a child’s outstretched arms landed on the grass in front of us. We stood transfixed by the sight of the bird manoeuvring a bloodied rabbit more firmly into its talons. We were suddenly oblivious to the noise of traffic around us. A few moments later, the bird took off, eyeing us with cold disdain.

Mindfulness is about being fully present and engaged in the moment, and these activities can help:

• String walk: tie a length of string between two trees (or objects). If possible, the area below the string should include different gradients and terrain. Give each child a blindfold and ask them to follow a piece of string to its conclusion. The children get sensory feedback from the string, acoustic sounds, the tree bark, long grasses, and low dips in the ground.
• Cloud watching: this is a great way to distract the mind from stresses and worries. Once you draw children’s attention to it, they will see that a cloudy sky often changes very rapidly. It’s particularly satisfying to watch clouds on the horizon in autumn or winter – they can look like ever-changing cities. Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, points out that we hardly even notice clouds unless they obstruct the sun.

  The bad press that clouds get is totally unfair. Clouds are in fact the most diverse, evocative, poetic aspect of nature. They remind us that we are creatures that inhabit this ocean of air. We don’t live beneath the sky; we live within it. The digital world conspires to make us feel perpetually busy. Slowing down and being in the present, not thinking about what you’ve got to do, what you should have done, just being here, letting your imagination lift from the everyday concerns. It’s good for you.

  (Pretor-Pinney, 2013)

• Sit spot: this was an activity that I was shown on my Forest School course. Children and adults find their own special spot and sit there quietly. Very young children may only be able to do this for a few seconds at first, but you can gradually build up the time. Encourage children to...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 Green is good
• 2 Beneficial spaces
• 3 The wellbeing laboratory
• 4 Dare to play
• 5 Relationships matter: The role of the adult
• 6 Honesty and love
• Closing remarks
• Index