Babies, toddlers and two-year-olds and the outdoors are a natural combination, with endless benefits for learning and development. Jan White explains where to find them.

The Early Years Foundation Stage has established high expectations about outdoor play on a daily basis for all children, but we urgently need to decide what appropriate provision outdoors actually means for babies, toddlers and two-year-olds.

Children of this age are intensely driven to explore and are hugely disadvantaged if their explorations are restricted to a limited, safety-surfaced area. To provide the best possible circumstances for well-being and healthy development, we must offer rich and extensive daily outdoor provision that provides what the indoors does not. Teams need to discuss how being outdoors can benefit the babies and very young children in their care in a way that indoor provision cannot.

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