Outdoors in nature: special spaces for young children’s learning

Outdoor experiences allow teachers to focus on expanding child learning in different domains. Nature experiences can sharpen child senses, enrich vocabulary, increase spatial understandings, and permit more practice for large muscle skills. As well, teachers can arrange outdoor activities to promote positive peer cooperation and aesthetic enjoyment and appreciation – of birds, flowers, clouds, plants, clouds, rain, and trees. Outdoor environments challenge teachers to create new ways to involve children with disabilities in enjoyable learning opportunities. Caregivers can arrange new ways to enhance children's experiences and insights in activities not possible within the confines of indoor classroom spaces. Helping young children enjoy nature and outdoors, teachers create a lifelong path for them to become conservers of sustainable environments in the future.