Keeping children safe – including outdoors and on outings
The Care Inspectorate have described how practitioners have been exploring ways of incorporating SIMOA the elephant into their learning about safety. They have published a bitesize session to be used alongside our SIMOA keeping children safe practice notes. You can watch this bitesize here.
Slow Pedagogy: How to be ‘slow’ outdoors
Alison Clark explores ‘slow pedagogy’ in this Nursery World article (24 October 2024). What does this looks like for children and practitioners when taken outdoors?
Playgroups are struggling to survive – here’s why we need them
This article in The Conversation (12 October 2023) shares research on the value of playgroups, and the links to families and communities. It also references the move by some to outdoor practice, like the Scottish Buggy Club, and national policy initiatives for families and communities.
Building Pedagogies for Early Childhood Education in a Time of Environmental Uncertainty
This research paper (Jørgensen-Vittersø, Blenkinsop, Heggen, & Neegaard) is published in the 135th Canadian Journal of Environmental Education Vol. 25 (2022): Wild Pedagogies . The article explores two pedagogies, one influenced by friluftsliv and the other wild pedagogies. The theoretical section focuses on three key components: childhood, knowledge, and nature. These [...]
Out to Play – caring for our outdoor spaces
It’s an exciting time for ELC and outdoor learning in Scotland! Good news - the Early Learning and Childcare Directorate have published Out to Play - caring for our outdoor spaces (3 October 2023). This is part of the Out to Play guidance series, that aims to support Early Learning [...]
Early years explore nature, art and culture outdoors
The Children and Nature Network share news (July 2023) on how a nature preschool in South Carolina, USA, partnered with local Latinx organizations. Together, they guide students in creating “alebrijes” — a traditional Mexican art form involving the carving of wood into imaginative or mythical creatures. Check out the story [...]
Nature preschools and outdoor play in the USA
Cities Connecting Children to Nature share recent reports on the benefits of providing nature and outdoor play in the early years. Changing practice in Maryland, USA, is explored in these reports: Early Childhood: How to bring more nature into preschools, Hechinger Report, June 1, 2023 For preschoolers after the pandemic, [...]
Australia: ‘Bush kinder’ turns nature novices into eco-experts
This Child in the City article (9 June 2023) describes the growth of ‘bush’ or nature kinders in Victoria and other parts of Australia, and how the benefits of these programmes are being recognised through research. Education in bush kinders is often child-led, where children are free to roam, play, [...]
