Outdoor Play: Articles

Outdoor Play: Resources

The Great Outdoors. Restoring Children's Right to Play Outside. Rivkin, Mary S. (1995, second printing 1999): NAEYC has published another wonderful book for those who love children. This book is about the importance of children spending time outdoors. Mary Rivkin has gleaned valuable information from the writings of environmentalists, biologists, physicists, historian, and play scholars who write and act earnestly in support of children's outdoor play.

Play, Development and Early Education. Johnson, James, Christie, James, and Wardle, Francis. (2005): Discover the universal language of childhood! Play. Through detailed research and practical application of current and past theories, the authors help us to understand the vital relationship between play and learning in young children. Chapter 12 devotes its 34 pages to the importance of outdoor play starting with the ''history of playgrounds" and concludes with several pages on ''outdoor play advocacy''. An excellent read, and well-worth it.
“An extensive account showing the scope and depth of children's play including the current trends, research, and informed opinions on the importance of childhood play.” Regina C.M. Williams, Central Ohio Technical College

Discovering Nature Complete Set. Chalfour, Ingrid and Worth, Karen. (2003): Getting the most from your outdoor experience takes time and effort. Teachers who want to do serious science in their preschool classroom, should try this resource-rich curriculum. It gives you all the tools you need. This first unit in the innovative Young Scientist series, Discovering Nature with Young Children guides teachers through an inquiry-based curriculum that builds on children's natural curiosity about the living world around them.

Designs for Living and Learning. Curtis, Deb and Carter, Margie. (2003): The inspirational text and photographs in this book offer healthy and creative ways to enrich the outdoor and indoor experience of your early childhood setting. The authors have drawn on a variety of approaches, including; Waldorf, Montessori, Reggio, Greenman, Prescott, and Olds, to bring us many simple and practical ideas to enrich our early childhood settings for infants to schoolagers.
"This book goes beyond rearranging furniture or adding new materials to the classroom. The authors urge early childhood educators to rethink what their program stands for and transform their environments in innovative ways that represent those values." -- Young Children

Early Childhood Outdoors Design Institute: Design For Active Childhoods Check out this website filled with articles to discover individuals who are dedicated to creating environments for young children that can counteract sedentary lifestyles.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was created to protect the most basic rights of children, including the rights to identity, education, shelter, safety and special protection in times of war. This convention, adopted by the U.N. General Assembly by the unanimous vote in 1989, is the most universally accepted human rights document in history. Learn more about this important document and what you can do to protect children's rights.

Norway's Early Childhood Outdoor Education Program: Despite the fuzzy pictures, this short article, written by a current director's mentor in the California Early Childhood Mentor Program, opens a window into how a school in Norway is enhancing and advancing outdoor education and play for their young children

Even Toddlers on Trikes Benefit from Helmets: From the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, a short word on why bicycle/tricycle helmets are so important for children of all ages

Recess and the Importance of Play: A Position Statement on Young Children and Recess: In this article you will find out why recess is an essential component of education. All preschool and elementary school children must have the opportunity to participate in regular periods of active, free play with peers. From the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education

National Network for Child Care: Looking for information or a way to communicate with others who care about children? Try NNCC's website. Their goal is to share knowledge about children and childcare from the vast resources of the land-grant universities with parents, professionals, practitioners, and the general public. They network with committed individuals around the country to bring you practical information and resources that will be useful to you in your everyday work with children.

Schoolyard Habitats: A subsidiary of National Wildlife Federation (NWF), this website offers an exciting variety of resources and programs that can help stimulate unique, hands-on, outdoor learning opportunities.

Planet Earth Playscapes: Don't miss this website...find out how they create one-of-a-kind, natural, community built, play and learning environments for children. Also visit their list of valuable 'links' and 'resources'.

Natural Learning Initiative: A great site promoting the importance of the natural environment in the daily experience of all children, through environmental design, action research, education, and dissemination of information.

Natural Playgrounds: If you are considering giving your children a quality outdoor experience, check out Natural Playgrounds. They can help you find all the whys, wheres and hows of creating an excellent natural play space for your center or school.