On a chilly, wet afternoon in February, pre-school practitioner and lecturer Nina Taylor attended an outdoor learning workshop offered by Hampshire County Council.
Ms Taylor reports that the three-hour session, delivered by outdoors expert Jan White, has had a lasting impact on her practice and her setting.
'Around 30 of us gathered at an outdoor centre in a local village and had a really brilliant afternoon,' she says. 'Jan offered insights on how outdoor learning provides a full and rich environment that satisfies young children's need for exploration and creativity.
'This is based on what she calls her six main ingredients, where children are afforded the chance to be physical, noisy, messy, interact with nature and engage in the type of spontaneous and creative play that might be frowned on indoors.
'At the same time, Jan emphasised it is not sufficient to merely transpose the indoor classroom outside. Instead, it is important to harness the special qualities of the natural environment in order to provide the resources children need for a holistic experience that will facilitate their disposition for learning.'
Since attending the workshop, Ms Taylor has carefully examined and reviewed her own provision and reflected on what is provided and how the children use it.
'Although it is relatively small, it does provide diverse opportunities, and it occurred to me that our provision includes many of Jan's key ingredients and the children use them in creative and exploratory ways,' she says.
Ms Taylor has also been considering how to extend the children's experiences beyond this. 'Our future plans include using our tyres more productively to grow grass or other seeds and providing large canopies, such as sheeting or plastic, for painting,' she says.
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