Outdoor project teaches children to solve disputes

Threeand four-year-olds from Pontycymer Nursery School in Bridgend, Wales, took part in the ten-week play project led by the Woodlands for Learning team, part of the Forestry Commission Wales. Staff were encouraged to take a step back by the project, which aimed to promote independent learning.

For the trial, a group of nine children spent three hours every week at the Rockwool Woodlands for Learning centre in Pencoed, Bridgend.

During the first session, the children were taught how to carry out a simple risk assessment of the woodland and given basic resources, such as buckets, ropes, trowels, water and mud.

Week by week, the resources were reduced until the children were using what they could find in the woods to interact with and use in their games.

Practitioners were instructed to let children take the lead and only intervene when necessary.

To measure the effectiveness of children's learning, practitioners observed each child three times per session for two minutes at random times. Their observations were measured against the Leuven Involvement Scale for Young Children, a tool for assessing children's level of involvement and well-being.

Karen Clarke, team education manager at Woodlands for Learning, said that the project had many positive outcomes for the children. She said that it taught them how to solve their own problems and encouraged them to play with children with whom they normally would not interact at nursery.

'The children made their own choices about what to play and how to communicate with each other and learned to mediate their own disagreements without adult intervention,' she said.

'They learned how to negotiate with each other to get an agreed outcome and became more resilient when things didn't go their own way.

'These are important lifelong skills that we hope will remain with these children.'

Following on from the project, the nursery has re-evaluated its forest school practice to try to make activities more child-led. Staff have also transferred some of the techniques used in the woods to the indoors, which has enabled children to use their new understanding of negotiating and problem-solving back in the nursery.

Lynne Walsh, forest school leader at Pontycymer Nursery, said, 'The play project surpassed all our expectations. It gave children a lot of freedom, which was particularly good for those who find it difficult to sit still.

'There was a terrific change in children's social development. They became more independent and even chose when to have their lunch. It was really amazing to see them learn how to occupy themselves.'

• For information contact Forestry Commission Wales at www.forestry.gov.uk.