IN our experience some parents can be hesitant when they first hear about our woodland kindergarten due to the children being outdoors in all weather and the perception that being outside is risky.
We work hard to share the benefits of outdoor play and explain to parents why managed risk is so important.
Allowing children to engage in risky play, such as climbing, running, sliding and balancing on logs, gives them the opportunity to access risks and learn how to manage risk for themselves.
The process of a child attempting to climb a tree stump, to slip off and try again provides them with motivation to try again and to problem solve to find an alternative method.
READ MORE: Parents encouraged to let their children explore the great outdoors
Allowing children to be exposed to managed risk therefore provides fun and challenge and will lead to the development of important life skills such as motivation, confidence, independence, problem solving and resilience.
We feel strongly the outdoor environment is best to promote this, with the freedom of space, natural risk and obstacles and stimulating, ever-changing environment.
I have fond memories of playing outside as a child, in particular for long periods of time with minimal adult intervention and direction.
My parents allowed me to explore freely in the garden, back lane and beyond without the need for planned activities and gadgets.
We had dens and hide-outs and established our own clubs and games. We got muddy and only came home when we were hungry.
We are trying to replicate some of that experience and children at the kindergarten spend most of the day playing outdoors in woodland where they can set up a camp and shelters if the weather requires it.
READ MORE: Parents encouraged to let their children explore the great outdoors
Sometimes the attitudes of parents rub off on their children and we find a few children who come to us are initially nervous.
We have had the experience of one child arriving with a bottle of hand gel in their pocket and regularly applying it because of a fear that their parents have that being dirty is somehow unhealthy.
It is important to educate children and parents that it is good for them to play in an environment with ‘clean dirt’ as children are then exposed to good bacteria.
Children can play safely in woodland with natural resources such as mud, leaves, sticks and the kindergarten team ensures that all the children wash their hands carefully before eating.
The increase in technology in society is not a bad thing, but the increase in ‘screen time’ is encroaching on the time children would previously have engaged in free, imaginative play and outdoors.
READ MORE: Parents encouraged to let their children explore the great outdoors
Compared to 30 or 40 years ago children’s lives have become a lot more structured which means there is less time to play using their imaginations. We feel there should be a lot more free play in early childhood after all that is how young children learn.
Alison Latta is a founder of the Woodland Outdoor Kindergarten in Glasgow’s Pollock Park
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel