Children are never too young to benefit from outdoor play. They need to experience all aspects of the natural world and also to develop and test their growing physical skills within it. Therefore, all early years practitioners should ensure babies and toddlers have frequent access to the outdoors, because playing outside or going for a walk in the park is not a treat, but an entitlement that practitioners should value and organise well.
In Exercising Muscles and Minds (National Early Years Network, 2000), author Marjorie Ouvry describes the natural way children learn to play in harmony with their environment and begin to use their senses to understand the confusing world around them. The importance of playing outdoors cannot be over-emphasised in this context.
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