Down to the woods: outdoor project

There's more to outdoor play than the school playground might offer. Alison Mercer sees how some children are learning further afield

A dragon in a tree, blossoming bluebells and daffodils, fungi, an enormous muddy pond, a chance to make a fire... whenever the nursery children from Redesdale First School in Tyneside go down to the nearby Rising Sun Countryside Park, they're sure of a few surprises. Their weekly visits have introduced them to the great outdoors and allowed them to discover it at their own pace - and to discover new talents and abilities along the way.

The Rising Sun Woodland Pre-school Project is a joint venture between the school, the countryside park and SightLines Initiative, a charitable trust. SightLines Initiative develops innovative and creative practice for very young children and is a reference point in the UK for advice on the pioneering early years practice of the Reggio Emilia region in Italy. The Woodland Preschool team (Christine Birtwistle and Lesley Norris, the nursery class staff; Linda Lines, the country park's education officer; Kath Bedingfield and Frances Mullarkey, arts practitioners; Robin Duckett of SightLines Initiative and Steph Robertshaw, a playwork student) has now produced a video that records the project, and which they hope will provide food for thought for other practitioners.