Outdoor education fosters student well-being, development and learning. However, many schools restrict outdoor experience to their own playground, and to times considered recess. This case study, which examined student and teacher perceptions about the outdoor experience on traditional playgrounds, was conducted in an urban school in the Basque…

The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to carry out an in-depth investigation of teachers and parental views regarding outdoor play and learning, and (b) to examine the extent to which the objectives and goals related to outdoor play and learning were documented within the school curriculum. The data were collected qualitatively from 12 teachers…

Risky play, accompanied by thrilling feelings with real or perceived risks, is beneficial for children's development. Playground quality and teachers' attitudes about risk can influence preschoolers' risky play opportunities. In this study, 10 U.S. preschools' outdoor environments were rated using the Seven Cs Scale. Playgrounds scored lowest in…

This study was carried out within a project to promote health and ecosystem services, 'the benefits people obtain from ecosystems', in preschools in Sweden. The paper applies the concept 'affordance' to capture the functional meaning that children assign to different material aspects of their schoolyards before and after the installation of…

Our aims were to examine the efficacy of a new observational instrument "System for Observing Outdoor Play" for detecting changes in outdoor play and chart the use of recycled and repurposed materials in the school playground during the course of an intervention to increase outdoor play. Children from one Sydney primary school were…

Outdoor learning provides memorably relevant learning and authentic, contextualised opportunities to extend classroom-based education. This research draws on empirical data from surveys involving teachers in primary schools in England in 1995 and 2017 (n=61 and n=40 respectively). The evidence illustrates that schools are continuing to use their…

This study aims to enhance awareness of what young children want to do outside and their preferences regarding their outdoor environment. Views of children as active participants, the affordance of the environment and the importance of place for children's learning constitute the theoretical background of the study. The study was part of a…

The physical and social environment of children in cities is continuously changing. Knowledge about the positive effects of natural play experiences within the child's development is becoming widely known. Affordances of diverse landscape elements and especially loose parts for play in natural environments influence play activities. New concepts…

This paper reports the results of risk reframing, an intervention to offer parents and educators a context for building new and complex perceptions of risk in children's outdoor free play. Our objective was to alter these adults' perceptions of risk to increase the sustainability of an innovative child-centred playground intervention. Qualitative…