Young children are instinctively drawn to the outdoors due to its inherent appeal. Outdoor play holds significant value in children’s learning, development, and overall wellbeing, offering numerous benefits that contribute to their growth. 

Engaging in outdoor play allows children to explore and connect with their environment, facilitating the development of muscle strength, coordination, and self-confidence. Active play in the open air promotes flexibility and refinement of fine and gross motor skills, balance, and coordination. 

Physical exercise and activity are crucial for children’s overall health. Children require ample opportunities to utilise their muscles by running, swinging, climbing, jumping, balancing, and riding bikes. Outdoor activities involve the whole body, allowing children to experience risk-taking and embrace new encounters. These experiences play a vital role in helping children develop an understanding of their personal boundaries. As wisely expressed by Roald Dahl, “the more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves.” 

Spending time outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine is essential for children’s physical and emotional wellbeing. It provides them with a sense of freedom to release their energy, leading to increased happiness and a calmer state of mind. Also, exposure to the outdoors enables children to naturally obtain Vitamin D, which enhances moods and fosters a positive attitude. 

Outdoor play serves as an excellent platform for nurturing children’s creativity and imagination. Their minds are stimulated by the natural elements and objects found in their surroundings. They ingeniously incorporate these collected items into their play, inventing new and imaginative ways of utilising them. 

The outdoors grants children a wonderful sense of space. Unlike indoor learning environments, the outdoors is less crowded and overwhelming, allowing children to relax and engage more openly in social interactions and small group play. This relaxed setting offers them opportunities to refine skills such as turn-taking, negotiation, and collaboration. 

In our Early Learning Centre, outdoor play is a high priority which is seamlessly integrated into our daily program. We provide our children with regular opportunities to engage with our nature-inspired outdoor playscape, where they can freely run, climb, imagine, interact, and create using their entire bodies and senses.