The Impacts of Outdoor Exploration

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Program Name: Toddler 2

Outdoor experiences can provide an opportunity to explore, discover and appreciate the natural world. It provides opportunities to be active, strengthen fine and gross motor movement skills, test physical limits, and get messy. Time spent outdoors should be an important part of the daily program for all children.

During the winter season, we have seen improvements in the children's sleep, mood, and social skills. We have seen progress with transitions and routines in a step-by-step process from dressing in their winter gear to patiently waiting for the entire group, to heading outdoors. These routines then lead to the children strengthening their body muscles and brain development.

During outdoor play, toddler children have been growing socially which then leads to help their development in healthy ways of forming friendships, responding to physical interactions through risky play, and using their imaginations to entertain each other while using all sorts of materials to explore the outdoor space.

To conclude, playing outdoors has benefits for both young children and educators. It's a refreshing pause in the days schedule - time set aside to look and listen, explore and observe, move and let loose alongside the children. Time spent outdoors can lead to better physical and mental health, improved sleep, and cognitive, social, and emotional gains for young children. Ensuring that outdoor play is an integral part of the childcare and education settings daily schedule supports early learning across all domains and unleashes a whole lot of joy - for the educators and the children!

A child standing and balancing on top of a mud kitchen.

Two children sitting in milk crates while looking at each other.

A child holding a shovel while squatting in the sand.