Special Report: Outdoor Learning

Children’s engagement with the great outdoors is becoming all too rare. To emphasise the case, last year 12 per cent of children across England (1.3 million) did not even once visit the natural environment, according to public body Natural England.

Author and expert on play Tim Gill says technological and societal changes are “effectively trapping children indoors at the very point when their bodies and minds are primed to start getting to grips with the world outside”.

Moreover, these trends are contributing to major challenges facing society – including the rise in childhood obesity and mental health issues and the struggle to build a sense of place and community.

There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating how important it is for children to be given the opportunity to discover, learn about and experience the natural world. It enables a sense of belonging rooted in their local environment, enhancing health, wellbeing and educational outcomes while helping to safeguard the future of their environment.

Policymakers are also recognising the need to develop new ways to support services and practitioners to help children of all ages learn and play outdoors, whether through street play initiatives or national social action programmes.

CYP Now’s Special Report on outdoor learning examines what efforts government is making to promote outdoor learning; how research is showing the beneficial impact for children of learning outside the classroom; and profiles examples of how it is being used in increasingly innovative ways to improve outcomes for all children.

Click these links to find out more:

Outdoor Learning – Policy context

Outdoor Learning – Research evidence

Outdoor Learning – Practice example: Woodland Nursery

Outdoor Learning – Practice example: Outward Bound Trust – Transitions

Outdoor Learning – Practice example: National Citizen Service – Inspira

Outdoor Learning – Practice example: Jamie's Farm