National Childcare Week is under way, and that means it's also time to reveal the winners of this year's children's art competition run by Nursery World and Daycare Trust (see 'Picture this', pages 22-23). The two of us have collaborated on this event for the past seven years, and the messages that shine through from children's artwork remain remarkably consistent. Fun, friends, food and good carers are what children like about their childcare, but, on top of this, what emerges is how important outdoor play is to them. The vast majority of scenes depicted for this year's theme of 'Me and My Ideal Childcare' were outside the childcare setting, as they have been for previous years with similar themes.
National Childcare Week is under way, and that means it's also time to reveal the winners of this year's children's art competition run by Nursery World and Daycare Trust (see 'Picture this', pages 22-23). The two of us have collaborated on this event for the past seven years, and the messages that shine through from children's artwork remain remarkably consistent.
Fun, friends, food and good carers are what children like about their childcare, but, on top of this, what emerges is how important outdoor play is to them. The vast majority of scenes depicted for this year's theme of 'Me and My Ideal Childcare' were outside the childcare setting, as they have been for previous years with similar themes.
Playing outside with other children, exploring, meeting challenges are all of the utmost importance to young children, and yet so many of them have limited opportunities. Awareness of this issue is growing, as demonstrated by the huge number of thoughtful entries for our annual Outdoor Challenge competition, but there is still no regulation to ensure children have access to exciting outdoor spaces.
As this year's National Childcare Week focuses on the need to listen to children, isn't it time that settings, local authorities, regulators and the Government heard how they feel about being outdoors?
