Adventurous Play: Early Years Outdoors Learning

Learning through landscapes • how to tackle risk and adventurous play • the role of the adult. What do we mean by ‘adventure’? Adventurous play doesn’t have to be adrenaline-packed or large scale. After all, a four year old, hiding in the undergrowth, is... More

Learning through landscapes • how to tackle risk and adventurous play • the role of the adult. What do we mean by ‘adventure’? Adventurous play doesn’t have to be adrenaline-packed or large scale. After all, a four year old, hiding in the undergrowth, is on an adventure. You are having an adventure when you are challenging yourself, pushing your own boundaries, being slightly the other side of your comfort zone. More commonly termed as the ‘stretch zone’ this sits between comfort and panic, where challenge is at the forefront. Channelled sympathetically, adventures can set children off on a journey that enriches their learning. They can offer children opportunities to be excited, feel anxious, to make new discoveries about themselves, develop physically and to anticipate what might happen as a result of their actions, building on their knowledge. Adventures help children gain confidence, giving a sense of achievement and motivation to try again. For boys, the power of adventure Less