Many nursery chains invest huge amounts of money in planning and getting a nursery building just right. But what about the land outside? Outdoor provision has tended to be overlooked, but making the best use of what outdoor space is available is now very much on the agenda.
'Improving outdoor provision is something we are focusing on this year as a group,' says Nikki Straker, assistant general manager of Toad Hall Nursery Group. 'The outdoor area can be one that staff forget and do not place as much importance on. We want staff to use their foresight and plan activities for the outside as they would indoors.'
Early years consultant Marjorie Ouvry stresses the importance of outdoor activity for children's emotional and mental development, not just physical. 'It is often seen as a place for children to let off steam, rather than a place to underpin the whole curriculum. Children are often kept inside too much and are not given free flow to move from indoors to the outside. The outside area is also sometimes not sufficiently stimulating - just a place to play on trikes with adults in a supervisory capacity, not educational,' she says.
'The outdoors should cover the whole curriculum in a complementary way and children should be able to spend all their time outdoors if they wish because the curriculum should be so rich and varied. It is especially important for kinaesthetic learners in the early years who need to move to learn.'
Destroy barriers
But the quality of outdoor provision that a nursery provides depends on the knowledge and skills of practitioners. 'How good the outdoor provision is depends on how well the staff make use of it,' says early years consultant Margaret Edgington. 'It is an area that is very difficult to control remotely from head office. But there is a growing awareness among senior management that more needs to be done to develop outdoor provision.'
At Toad Hall, staff are having one-day workshops on the importance of outdoor provision and how the outdoors can complement indoor activities so that provision can be enhanced.
Another barrier to quality outdoor provision is lack of space. Busy Bees group director John Woodward says, 'We have been approached to purchase a few nurseries without outdoor areas, but we haven't done so because we think outdoor play is an essential part of the pre-school experience. But we have to realistically look at what we can provide.
'The ideal is a large outdoor play area with a variety of different environments - woodland, grass and hard surfaces. Some of our settings have this, but some city centre nurseries just haven't got the available land.
We create as much outdoor space as possible but it is a balancing act.
Single-storey buildings are the ideal but we will build two-storey instead because we want the extra space outside.'
Ms Ouvry recommends that nurseries with limited outdoor space should allow staff to take children out every day. 'I recently spoke to a nursery based in Westminster and the staff take the children to local parks. They have audited the parks for educational potential and take magnifying glasses and physical equipment so the children have a choice of activities. There are swings, a slide and a climbing frame that they use and staff take blankets so the children can role play picnics. It all boils down to the skills, knowledge and imagination of the practitioners.'
Busy Bees nurseries have minibuses so children can be taken into the countryside, and at Asquith Court staff are encouraged to think strategically and research the local area for places to go when there is limited outdoor space.
Ease of access
Many chains now try to allow children access to the outdoors wherever possible. The last six nurseries Careshare built have a door leading outside from every children's room and some Asquith Court nurseries have big double doors opening on to the gardens. 'There is freeflow between the outdoor and indoor areas and staff are deployed outside as and when they are needed,' says education manager Ann Roberts. 'Our good practice is to be spontaneous and work with the children's needs. The room supervisors are alert to what the children require and maintaining ratios.'
Leapfrog Day Nurseries has some two-storey buildings but staff still work towards children having as much outside access as possible. 'We find that because children are used to being able to go outside on a regular basis it is a calm environment, rather than it being a novelty with children running around making a loud noise,' says education training manager Deborah Lockett. 'Children are also able to go outside in all weathers as much as possible. We encourage them to bring their wellies and waterproofs so they can enjoy the experience of being in the rain and doing fun activities such as measuring rain in buckets.'
Think it through
Ms Edgington warns against being lured by expensive equipment. 'Nurseries can end up with a lot of tarmac with a big brightly-coloured fixed climbing frame in the middle. This tends to be done because they want parents to be attracted to the nursery, but it is not the right way. Low-level climbing equipment can be just as good and will not dominate the outdoor area.
Chains should start by considering the different types of activities children need to be engaged in,' she advises.
Staff at The Birrell Collection have given thought to how their outdoor areas can be best utilised and have drawn up a curriculum policy. The document is used as a training tool and for inspiration. 'With a bit of planning and resourcing, absolutely every curriculum area can be included,'
says director Yvonne Birrell. 'When children interact outside they are learning far more than simply how to use and control their bodies.
Emotionally, personally and socially, they find themselves having to make choices, take risks, solve problems, be independent, share and co-operate, handle and resolve conflicts with others.
'Children develop their knowledge and understanding of the world through handling and caring for living things, and learning about their habitats - be it insects, pets or growing plants and vegetables. Maths, scientific and conservation concepts can be explored through the weather, for example harnessing wind power, and handling sand and water, sorting, weighing and measuring. Many cross-curricular activities occur naturally such as number when buying bulbs and seeds, planting and feeding them and measuring and recording the results. We also aim to help children become aware of the importance of outdoor activity to health.'
Toad Hall nurseries aim to have structured outdoor areas. 'Our ideal outdoor area is one where children can dig and grow things, a grassy area, a construction area where children can build or balance on beams, a sandpit with a lid and bikes for physical activities. Also a quiet area where children can sit and read books, or practise mark-making on a blackboard on the side of a wall,' says Ms Straker.
Room for growth
Outside, children can do activities on a larger scale with more mess and more noise than indoors. Big artwork activities are tackled outdoors at The Birrell Collection with rolls of paper stretched out and worked on by a group of children. At Toad Hall big paintbrushes and large tubs of water are provided so children can 'paint' the walls and watch the water dry.
Leapfrog Day Nurseries has bigger objects outdoors for children to use such as crates, blocks and large boxes. 'One day they'll make these into a house and on another they'll build a boat. Staff will help to extend play and move resources,' explains Ms Lockett. 'Staff are also encouraged to do observations outside. If children are playing with water and exploring pouring, the staff see what they can bring in to assist learning and plan for each child's individual needs.'
Giving a strong focus to outdoor provision will also help nursery chains build a quality staff team, believes Ms Ouvry. 'When appointing staff one of the questions that must be asked is how they feel about outdoor play - that one question alone will elicit the attitude that a person has towards children,' she says. 'People who know about the importance of outdoor play know about children's learning. Comments about safety or parents not approving are excuses. If they say they love it, that their last place gave the whole curriculum outside then that is somebody who knows children and how they need the freedom of the outdoors to learn.'
