Pre-schoolers need plenty of opportunities to build up their physical dexterity and motor skills. There is no better place to indulge in physically active play than outdoors.
‘The type of full body movements that we need young children to make in order to develop their minds and bodies is best done in the space and air of outdoors,’ explains Julie Mountain, outdoor play consultant and director of Play Learning Life.
Alongside physical play, practitioners need time to plan ‘robust’ outdoor curriculums for three- and four-year-olds that focus on how to ‘maximise the intellectual challenge on offer’, she says.
‘Tasks and provocations that encourage purposeful mark-making, maths skills and language, problem-solving, collaboration and turn-taking opportunities need to be thought about. Practitioners should focus on what they want each child to achieve and how the resources, the space and the seasonal changes outdoors can support this,’ Mountain adds.
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