How getting muddy supports children’s mental health
In this Learning Through Landscapes article, Early Years Training and Development Lead, Ali Aspin, explores the benefits of getting muddy for Children’s Mental Health Week.
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.
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, [...]
Introducing the graduates of the first Thrive Outdoors Leadership Programme
Inspiring Scotland shares how the bespoke six-month programme supported emerging leaders for the outdoor community play and outdoor ELC sectors. Meet the graduates here!
Woodland Learning: The sustainable management of sites for learning and play
This series of 22 videos has been created by Learning Though Landscapes in partnership with Scottish Forestry. These short videos aim to support the responsible use and management of local spaces used for learning and play. They cover a range of topics from site selection and management to cooking outdoors [...]
Growing up in Scotland: 2022 -26
The Scottish Government published Best Start: strategic early learning and school age childcare plan for Scotland 2022-26 (6 October 2022). The report sets out how the benefits of investment in 1140 hours of high quality funded early learning and childcare will be embedded. It also explains the approach to expanding [...]
My Active World – a new Early Years resource
The Care Inspectorate have developed a new ELC resource My Active World: Move more to nurture happy and healthy children. It is designed to build on the good work already present in many children’s settings. The resource shares physical activity guidelines from babies under 1 year old to young people [...]
