Outdoor Learning Activities For Early Years at Little Owls

It is an Ofsted requirement that all children have access to outdoor play. It is crucial that the outdoor environment provides just as much learning as the indoors. All children at our little Owls Day Nurseries (see more) have access to free flow play both indoors and outdoors. They enjoy playing outside and exploring their surroundings. Through careful planning and using resources efficiently the outdoor learning activities can provide children with vast learning opportunities, benefiting may areas of their learning and development. Many people suggest that some children learn better with outdoor learning activities opposed to activities inside. This is often the case with our boys.

Outdoor Learning Activities

The outdoor provision can be a place where our children can fully immerse in all types of learning and play, whether this is developing their gross motor skills, learning about living creatures or just sharing a story in the cosy area. An outdoor area is a great place for practitioners to offer children activities on a larger scale. Children who are often shy and quiet will often come out of their shell once using the outdoor learning activities. At Little Owls Day Nursery, we very much see our outdoor environment as an extension of the indoors. This enables our children access outside learning activities no matter what the weather.

Outdoor Learning Activities for Early Years

Little Owls Day Nursery recently won the final of Norfolk’s Active Futures award. Our staff, championed by our Manager Tiffany Neath and Operations manager Holly Parnell from our Little Owls Nursery in Dereham Norfolk, both worked tirelessly to promote physical ability in the Early Years.

Both our nurseries have introduced ‘Outdoors and Active’ family packs for our families and the local community, aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of the physical, everyday fun experiences of movement and physicality for the under 5’s. We have introduced a range of opportunities such as Active Story café sessions, Mini Me Yoga and themed baby play sessions to engage different abled families.

Contributing to Research at Little Owls Day Nursery

All of our Little Owls staff help contribute to research and identifying future projects with other professional partners, such as Norfolk County Council Early Years Achievement Team and Active Norfolk (see more) who provided the training and support that embeds physical activities for children under 5 and their families.

What an achievement we are so very proud and this highlights the strong ethos that we hold within our settings of the importance of physical outdoor learning activities and the outdoors environment for all of our children.

Pictured below are nursery manager Tiffany Neath and Deputy manager Hayley Gibbard receiving their Early Years Active Award.