We probably have fewer resources than most “normal” settings,’ says Rachel Macbeth at Beatle Woods nursery in Coventry, winner of the 2018 Enabling Environments award. ‘But we have the woodland floor and all the logs, leaves, sticks and mud we can use. We've birdsong and deer sometimes, and I'm inspired by the nature around us, and so are the children. They want to be everywhere and play with everything, so our job is to show them how to respect our spaces, show them what can be gathered and what can’t, and how to look after themselves when they’re exploring. And no, it doesn’t happen overnight.’
Two of the settings I visited, Beatle Woods and Dandelion Education, are both fully outdoor nurseries set in woodland locations without walls and traditional storage; it was interesting to see how this was done. At these settings, I observed that:
- Spaces were resourced abundantly and allowed children the freedom to shape the space as they wished, moving objects around, building and deconstructing, combining resources and collaborating or playing alone. Adults enabled children to be autonomous in their play choices – but were ready to participate if invited or help as needed.
- The weather, mud and mess was a resource: the elements that make outdoors special and unique were embraced, and adults positively encouraged children to experience them. This included the inherent risks, the ambient noises and nature in all its (sometimes frustrating) diversity.
- The space had different places to talk: adults and children engaged in long, meaningful conversations, often taking place spontaneously while they were moving around the outdoor spaces. None of the settings had set aside a space as a ‘communication area’ or zone, but instead the whole of the outdoors provided stimulus for discussion and curiosity and there were lots of places and spaces to stop for a while, dotted all around: for example, circles of log seats; a blanket under a twig den or a tarp; a playhouse with a heap of cushions inside; a corner of a grassy field; the edge of a raised planting bed.
- ‘Wild’ space meant physical challenge was everywhere: it is graduated so that children can push their boundaries at their own pace, and the inherent informality of a woodland play space meant there were no ‘digging areas’ or ‘construction corners’ – children could pursue their interests in one of many different places, collecting tools from well-organised storage; for example, both settings had several tables laid out with ‘real’ china and pots and pans, plus a variety of places to access books and mark-making tools (in a shed, up on a tree platform, on a display shelf, with some cushions) and stick dens and playhouses that felt special for children whatever their physical development.
Both settings have permanent and semi-permanent sheltered spaces, including a converted caravan, covered timber buildings, structured tents and tarps, a reclaimed summer house at Beatle Woods and a yurt at Dandelion – and these are open for use in any weather. Children keep warm with layers of clothing under waterproofs when needed, and both settings light fires to cook on and to provide warmth and comfort.
As I know from running my own school holiday provision, being outdoors all day, every day, whatever the weather can be exhausting, and Dandelion and Beatle Woods both provide cosy, dry spaces for staff and children to squirrel away in, with opportunities for downtime and curling up with a book or to snooze.
LOOSE PARTS
The five settings I visited were all enabling environments, so what did children do with their resources? What did settings offer as loose parts ‘continuous provision’? What truly resonated with children in each setting, and what could be picked out as consistently recurring successful practice? Some key themes are below:
1. Adults encouraged flexible thinking and agency through loose parts – children could shape their play and their environment with them. A truly enabling outdoor environment offers children lots of opportunities to make it their own; I've often observed that children of all ages have a profound sense of ‘ownership’ of their outdoor spaces compared with indoors, which they perceive as adult-directed and resourced with ‘real’ (i.e. ‘expensive’ or ‘delicate’) items. Outdoors and with loose parts, children are at liberty to make changes free of a fear of breakages or getting into trouble.
Emma and Hayley at Dandelion explain: ‘The important aspect of loose parts is that they are an open-ended resource, whichfits with our approach to all we do. For example, questions should be open-ended, and our water area is a large loose-parts space where children can reconfigure the space to meet their needs. They can join, move, rejoin and move again the pipes, guttering, buckets and so on. No area at Dandelion is “set”, so children can reimagine the site as they wish.’
2. Loose parts supported physicality – manual dexterity, fine and gross motor skills, plus strength, co-ordination, balance and all the physical development goals we want to help children achieve. We know young children are still not participating in enough physically active or demanding movement – we should be aiming at 180 minutes a day – and at each award-winning setting, the choice and quantity of loose parts compelled children to move and collaborate.
For example, on a rainy day at Kids Planet Stretton, children kept themselves warm and active, transporting objects around the setting, jumping in puddles, showing me where things were kept and where they liked to build shelters and dens. Small-world resources were incorporated into larger-scale constructions and children were clearly used to hauling large objects around as well as manipulating the smaller items.
3. The materials and equipment we categorise as ‘loose parts’ were often (perhaps mostly) not objects that were designed with play in mind; they arrived in the settings with no British Standard and no guidelines. Instead, whatever the size, shape or quantity of resources, children and adults worked together to embrace the risk and challenge; for example, the boy who spent 20 minutes deciding whether to jump from a large cable reel.
4. Unsurprisingly, some typesof loose parts were spotted in each setting, and most likely you have them too: crates, pallets, cable reels, ropes, fabric, pegs, paintbrushes and rollers, gardening tools and so on –and the settings agreed they would be considered as loose parts ‘continuous provision’ outdoors. What was notable was the quantity of each type of item – an abundance and a wide variety of loose parts.
For example, walking around Holmsdale Manor, evidence of fascination with loose parts of all shapes and sizes was everywhere – they had been transported under trees, into nooks and corners, inside playhouses and beneath shelters, next to log seats and tucked into walls and fences. Loose parts were plentiful enough to enable children to share without stress.
The adult role
In each of the six settings I visited for this series, the adults exemplified the key principles in the Shared Vision and Values for Outdoor Play in the Early Years document, one of which states, ‘knowledgeable and enthusiastic adults are key to unlocking the potential of outdoors’ (see Further information).
My guides at the settings I visited showed how adults interacted not just with children but with the environment itself to create high-quality learning spaces outdoors. I noted that at each setting, at least one staff member mentioned the work of Julie Fisher (adult/child interactions) and Anna Ephgrave (planning in the moment), and while these approaches have always struck me as especially pertinent for outdoor learning and play, it was significant that the influence of these respectful, child-focused, ‘slow’ pedagogies could be seen in action at each of these leading settings.
I noticed adults used observations to shape provision just as they did indoors. Children's activity indoors and outdoors was evaluated equally. Handwritten notes and online recording and assessment tools were both used outdoors and, in turn, children at all these settings (not just the outdoors-all-day settings) spent long lengths of time outdoors, knew they would have time and space to continue exploring at their pace – and could return to a favourite place or resource time and time again.
Also, adults’ body language and movements demonstrated trust in children's ability to risk assess, take turns and make thoughtful choices. I saw children and adults smiling at one another, making eye contact and sharing gestures or gentle touches that reinforced children's confidence and independence – words were not always needed. Robust risk-benefit assessments and a deep knowledge of the space gave children far more freedom to just ‘do’ and ‘be’, and not once did I hear an adult say ‘be careful’.
FURTHER INFORMATION
I have also been inspired to look at the practice of the settings I visited through the Shared Vision and Values for Outdoor Play in the Early Years manifesto developed by an early years consortium led by Nursery World and school charity Learning through Landscapes in 2004. You can download a poster of the principles plus the ten detailed supporting values from www.plloutdoors.org.uk/ey-advice