Outdoor play has a fundamental role in a child’s early development and it has proven benefits in engaging children with special educational needs.

There are many reasons why teaching and learning outside is so important, here are just a few…

– The outdoor environment is multi-sensory so children use all their senses to investigate the world around them.

– Being outdoors provides children with opportunities to investigate and explore different types of materials, and seasonal changes, in a meaningful way.

– Only outdoors can children properly experience, first hand, the natural world. It enables a better understanding of life cycles – plants and animals.

– Natural resources develop imagination and creativity as they are completely open-ended, enabling the development of critical thinking.

– Being outside allows for children to take risks in a safe environment.

– Being outdoors is better suited to the developmental needs of many children.

– Playing outside creates a sense of well being and helps to develop positive attitudes such as perseverance and self-confidence.

– Physical play promotes healthy attitudes and can combat obesity.

– Healthy eating is promoted as children are more likely to eat what they have grown in the garden.

– Personal and social qualities are developed and fostered as children work together at activities of their own choosing.

– Outdoor learning is memorable! Experiences are retained in the limbic part of the brain which stores long and short-term memories and emotions.

– Environmental awareness is fostered as children learn to take care of their environment and the plants and creatures found within it.