Risk and Adventure in Early Years Outdoor Play: Learning from Forest Schools

Do you want to create exciting outdoor experiences for children? Are you looking for guidance on how to incorporate the wilder and riskier elements of outdoor play into your planning? This book will give you the confidence to offer the children in your setting adventurous and challenging outdoor activities, as well as ways to utilise natural resources to their best advantage. There is clear, practical advice on what you need to do, which is underpinned by the theory that supports the benefits of this approach. Examples from settings are included, to illustrate best practice and to show how things can be achieved. Issues considered include: being outside in ‘bad’ weather; the importance of risk-taking; the benefits of rough and tumble play; observing and assessing children in this mode; how these experiences improve children’s learning; explaining activities to parents, colleagues and managers; ensuring health and safety requirements are met; and the role of the adult in facilitating these experiences. Suitable for all students and practitioners working with young children from Birth to 8, this book will not only give you ideas for outdoor play but also help you understand exactly what you are doing, why it is educationally sound and developmentally important for children, and where it connects with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in England, the Foundation Phase (FP) in Wales and the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. Sara Knight is an experienced early years educator and Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University. She is a trained Forest School practitioner and author of Forest Schools and Outdoor Learning in the Early Years.