Promoting Physical Development through Outdoor Play
Childminding UK: Promoting Physical Development through Outdoor Play
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides a framework for learning, development, and care for children from birth to five years old. One of the seven key areas of learning in the EYFS is Physical Development, which is crucial for children's overall well-being and forms the foundation for their future health and physical abilities. Play outdoors is intrinsically linked to this area of learning and can significantly enhance a child's physical development in several ways:
Development of Gross Motor Skills
Outdoor play often involves activities that require the use of large muscles in the arms, legs, and torso. For example, running, climbing, jumping, and throwing are all activities that help develop these gross motor skills. These activities improve children’s balance, strength, and coordination, all of which are important aspects of physical development.
Development of Fine Motor Skills
While outdoor play is often associated with gross motor skills, it also offers opportunities for fine motor development. For instance, picking up objects, manipulating playground equipment, or engaging in craft activities outside can enhance fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
Health Benefits
Outdoor play contributes to children's health by increasing their physical activity levels, which helps prevent obesity and associated diseases. Moreover, being outdoors more often increases exposure to sunlight which is important for vitamin D synthesis, crucial for healthy bone development.
It has been recognised that children playing outside and in nature have a reduced risk of short sightedness as they are able to use their eyes fully; they are taking in natural light and experiencing the breadth of possible light wavelengths, and looking at a wide range of objects at different distances so the eye muscles are working effectively.
Sunlight and serotonin aids the regulation of the circadian rhythm so improving sleep by making sure the children feel tired at the right times of the day, shortening the amount of time they take to fall asleep and increasing the quality of their sleep.
The release of serotonin which helps with emotional regulation and is linked with an increased sense of happiness. Outdoor and nature play also reduces the levels of cortisol in the body which is known as the stress hormone, it therefore makes sense that the more outdoor play the children have access to will result in reduced levels of cortisol produced so the child will experience less stress and anxiety.
Spatial Awareness
Playing outdoors gives children a larger space in which to move and explore compared to most indoor environments. This helps children to develop spatial awareness as they learn to navigate and negotiate space and obstacles, understanding distance and speed, which are crucial for all physical activities.
Risk-taking and Safety Awareness
Outdoor play environments often provide natural opportunities for children to engage in risk-taking behaviour within a controlled environment. Climbing, jumping from heights, and exploring uneven surfaces help children to learn how to assess and manage risks, which is a critical component of physical development.
Social Skills and Collaboration
Although social skills are not directly a part of physical development, the interaction that occurs in outdoor play supports overall physical development by encouraging more active play. Children often engage in collaborative experiences and games, which can lead to improved communication skills and the development of strategies that involve physical activities.
Motivation and Wellbeing
Being outdoors is known to boost mood and mental well-being, both of which can increase a child’s motivation to participate in physical activity. A positive attitude towards physical activity can instill a lifelong habit of engaging in exercise.
Implementing Effective Outdoor Play
To effectively link outdoor play with the EYFS Physical Development area, educators and parents can:
- Provide a safe and stimulating outdoor environment that offers a variety of physical challenges. Don’t be afraid of allowing the children to manage risks, children won’t learn without being able to test and experiment.
- Incorporate a mix of structured and unstructured activities to engage different muscle groups and motor skills, as well as promoting imagination, creativity and problem solving.
- Ensure that children have regular opportunities for outdoor play regardless of weather, adapting activities to suit different conditions.
- Encourage children to explore and interact with the natural environment. Be present with them and get excited about what they are exploring.
- Offer guidance and support to children in their physical activities while also allowing for autonomy to explore personal limits and abilities.
- Being in nature and seeing, feeling, and smelling the world in real life is so much more meaningful and tangible to a child than only experiencing it indoors in conversation, books or on a screen so extends their Understanding and Connection with the World. Regularly using a familiar space is beneficial as children can also experience change over time – being able to watch a tree in a field change throughout the season for example, is a wonderful way of witnessing and reflecting on the year. It also allows the development of skills and understanding across the 7 areas of learning with ease.
- Be planned and organised allowing you to be ready to get out with the children with ease! Make sure that Clothing, lunches, some resources such as ID books and magnifying glasses are available but also freely explore the natural resources that are on offer to you when out on your adventures.
A child's developmental journey is deeply reliant on varied physical experiences from an early age. While certain aspects of development are innate, How a child develops these skills requires support, inspiration and feedback from others around them but also access to rich environments that offer opportunity and challenge, to explore the wide ranging capabilities of their bodies. They need to be able to experiment and take managed risks learning from all that they do, right from babies through early childhood and beyond.
Outdoor play is not just beneficial but essential for the Physical Development area of the EYFS, fostering not only motor skills and physical health but also contributing to a child’s confidence and social skills, which are foundational for their ongoing development.
About Childminding UK
Childminding UK has been supporting practitioners for over 30 years. Formed in 1991 by and for local working practitioners in Northamptonshire, we now support practitioners across the country. A registered charity, we are the only national organisation that solely supports practitioners and the only early years organisation that has achieved the Princess Royal Training Award for ‘Ensuring high quality childcare through training and support’. All staff are experienced childcare professionals, and have been practitioners themselves and our trustees are working practitioners or have knowledge of childminding, so we have a good understanding of the sector.
Please note, the information in this article is provided by Childminding UK and does not represent the views or opinions of Morton Michel.