The Importance Of Outdoor Play And Nature Access For Children: Modules 1 & 2 Essay.

1.What theorists have influenced outdoor and nature play according to Elliot & Davis (2008)?

2.What are some of the concerns that Elliot & Davis (2008) have about the increase of synthetic and generic play spaces in Australia?

3.Describe Elliott and Davis's definition of sustainability in the context of this book.

4.As cited by Louv (2005) what answer and reason did the child give when asked about whether they preferred indoors or outdoors?

1.Do you believe access to nature and outdoor play is important to children and why?

2.Using the domains of development provided in the module, add the possible learning that nature and outdoor play can offer reflecting on the examples you have seen in Chapters 3 & 8 of your text

3.Having worked through the online module content, add any additions to why it is important for children to access nature in light of what you can see is being offered in the many examples.

Module 1 Questions

According to Armstrong, 2006 directed play actually act as the nature experiences and helps the children to explore the world which is considered as the initial phase of development because it is the environment which helps to educate the children about the life. They got also influenced by this thought that plays act as an avenue for children learning and the knowledge which they gain while playing is the primary stage of where they develop how to connect with the other children’s (Boldemann et. al., 2006). Elliot and Davis were influenced with the volatile nature of setting which provides big space for the children with diverse ground cover and some natural parts which they can be easily manipulated according to their need. As per Staempfli, physical diversity of natural framework has great impact on the behaviour of the children and also on the performance of their play because it helps in developing the great opportunity for the children to create, learn and develop through their self (Lee-Hammond & Jackson-Barrett, 2013). The innovation of ecological affordances, just like climbing on trees and streams for flapping, is improved by the climatic circumstances and altering seasonal by children who have continued, connecting proficiencies in natural outdoor spaces. According to McClain these kinds of acts help the children in developing love for the world surround around them and reduce aggression.

Elliot & Davis believes that due to increase in the percentage synthetic and generic play spaces in Australia the ability of the common children is actually getting reduced because they have been suppressed in an environment which is not naturally and so cannot reflect natural connections with the children while in case of natural space for play the child is able to connect everything like trees, grass and other participants in the form of parents, staff and other children’s with them which gives them a sense of understanding the life (Elliott & Davis, 2008). No matter how better these synthetic and generic play spaces are, they lack one of the most important things of the play which is feelings, connecting bonds and natural response. The synthetic and generic play actually creates a line of difference between reality and the fake world. If a child who is growing in these artificial playgrounds will get shocked when they will face the real world because Synthetic and generic play do not react but natural environment reacts and it can sometimes create a fear in the minds of these children (Elliott and Davis, 2009).

Elliot & Davis have faith in this concept offering a more rounded, systems-based and transformative method to addressing the difficulties of sustainability subjects that have resident and international as well as ancient and upcoming magnitudes. Remarkably, previous publications—both distinctly and composed—use the ecological instruction concept as this replicates individual preliminary opinions where we unspoken ecological education as in, about and for the atmosphere—a mean of thoughtful related to environmental education that had favor throughout. Education for sustainability is usually considered by a set of instruction and knowledge philosophies such as rounded, empirical, critically thoughtful, cooperative, and problem-based & distribution (Waite, 2007). There is, though, no correct way to involve in ecological education/education for sustainability. Each suggestions vision into instructive methods applicable to their precise sociocultural backgrounds, course outlines, and theoretical alignments. Davis (2010) and others debate that a transformative teaching program necessity takes superiority over basic knowledge or wisdom around the environment. Present time the world is facing changes on urgent bases and so the people who are related with the system want to be empowered in this case of child education for sustainability.

Module 1 Answers: Theories and Concerns of Outdoor and Nature Play

Louv had conducted an interview of around 3000 parents and children and while asking the question from children about liking indoor or outdoor, most of the children respond in the same way of liking indoor place where all electrical outlets are present (Roberts, 2006). This kind of answer was surprising for both parents as well as Louv. They find out that the main reasons behind are video games, fun on televisions and related electronic instruments.

Indoor play seems to be a good idea but it cannot be compared to outdoor play because it cannot provide the necessary skills and development which is essential for the growth of the child in both structure and unstructured way. The outdoor play actually provides the opportunity to the children to learn the adjustment of varying environment condition and situations (Dowdell, Gray & Malone, 2011). It has found out that facing uneven and unnatural surfaces will help in learning better coordination and equilibrium by providing necessary exposure related to the environment. Outdoor play helps the children to better understand the risks related to life by offering games like climbing the tree, playground equipment. If the children fall on the ground in outdoor play even this moment will help in understanding the differences between the surfaces which comprise of muddy, rocks, grass and sand. This kind of reminder will assist them in the future to lower down the possibility of injuries. Outdoor play also helps the children to learn the ability of problem-solving while interacting with other children and gain necessary respect and appreciations.

As per study the growing children always need physical activities which are only available in outdoor play (Tremblay et al., 2015). The outdoor activity actually increases the muscle strength of the children along with intelligence and it also provides a platform for the parents and staff to observe the issues related to the child suffering so that necessary actions can be taken on time in order to overcome these issues which cannot be possible in indoor play.

It is very common that children`s are able to formulate their own outdoor play. Every person in this world is actually a formation of their year of experiences which are very helpful in shaping the understanding of the person, their interaction and also increase the capacity of the memory. From both modules, it is very clear that outdoor play acts as very important aspect behind the growth of every child because it offers the children, parents, and staff to develop a bond of love along with happiness and learning (Staempfli, 2009). Outdoor play provides the necessary platform where children can create their own world in which they can manipulate things according to their need, some tries are successful and some tries get failed and this learning makes them understand the difference line between success and failure which assists them in their near future. Outdoor learning also guides children in understanding what is right and what is wrong by highlighting the real world.

Outdoor play helps the student to intake vitamin D with necessary exercise which is very helpful in developing the healthy body structure and mental ability of the children because when they play outdoor they get exposure from the sun and as per doctors’ dose of sunlight are very helpful in providing strength to the bones of the human body.

Another important aspect is that outdoor play helps in offering necessary opportunities to the children to practice all the social skills which are necessary for sustaining life in the form of emotional abilities, following rules, offer turns to others and deal with failures.

Another aspect is that outdoor play helps in developing the high-end vision in the minds of the children by offering them the ability to recognize the distance, speed, and clear mission. It helps them to transform things according to the present situations as per their needs.

Another most important aspect is that outdoor play actually increases the immunity of the children when they interact with dirt, mud, animals. As per the study, it has been found out that the children which get outdoor exposure have better immunity than children which spend their time playing indoor and are often the favorite prey of the diseases. Many parents are always in fear related to the impact of outside exposure on their children and did not allow them to go outdoors. As a result of this, the children develop a low immune system.

Last important aspect is that outdoor play offers a mode of relaxation which is very important in the developing stage of the children which helps them in developing cam nature in their life cycle.

References

Boldemann, C., Blennow, M., Dal, H., Mårtensson, F., Raustorp, A., Yuen, K., & Wester, U. (2006). Impact of preschool environment upon children's physical activity and sun exposure. Preventive medicine, 42(4), 301-308.

Dowdell, K., Gray, T., & Malone, K. (2011). Nature and its influence on children’s outdoor play. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 15(2), 24-35.

Elliott, S. and Davis, J. (2009). Exploring the resistance: An Australian perspective on educating for sustainability in early childhood. International Journal of Early Childhood, 41(2), p.65.

Elliott, S. L., & Davis, J. M. (2008). Introduction: Why natural outdoor playspaces?. In The Outdoor Playspace Naturally: For Children Birth to Five Years (pp. 1-14). Pademelon Press.

Lee-Hammond, L., & Jackson-Barrett, E. (2013). Aboriginal Children’s Participation and Engagement in Bush School. International Perspectives on Forest School: Natural Spaces to Play and Learn, 131.

Roberts, D. (2006). An interview with Richard Louv about the need to get kids out into nature [online]. Retrieved from: https://grist.org/article/louv/

Staempfli, M. B. (2009). Reintroducing adventure into children's outdoor play environments. Environment and Behavior, 41(2), 268-280.

Tremblay, M., Gray, C., Babcock, S., Barnes, J., Bradstreet, C., Carr, D., & Herrington, S. (2015). Position statement on active outdoor play. International journal of environmental research and public health, 12(6), 6475-6505.

Waite, S. (2007). ‘Memories are made of this’: Some reflections on outdoor learning and recall. Education 3–13, 35(4), 333-347.