Guest Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Hello again I am still doing my literature review but this time, I could do with some help in finding sources which critique the benefits of outdoor play. So far, I have managed to find information relating to childhood obesity and street crime, as well as issues in parents letting their children using public playgrounds and open spaces but unfortunately, none of this really relates to my focus. I have tried google and various other search engines, but they all bring up the same sort of thing, unless I'm not looking in the right places? I have looked at investigating the barriers to outdoor play in nurseries, but apart from a thread on this forum, I can find very little which I can relate to my focus. I am specifically looking at imaginative outdoor play and the ways in which the setting can support and promote it. This will include things like adult involvement, the curriculum we use, etc. Does anyone have any ideas where I could possibly find this information? All my literature advocates outdoor play and my literature review won't 'stand up' if I have nothing to argue my main points with. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 (edited) Have you tried any books by Helen Bilton? And the Learning Through Landscapes website? And Marjorie Ouvry? Helen Bromley is also very good on Outdoor Play if you can find any articles by her - she writes for most of the early years magazines so you might find some of her stuff online in their archives? Oooh, a book called Exercising Muscles and Minds..is that Marjorie Ouvry again?? Edited January 27, 2008 by Wolfie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 good luck Clare i am doing a similar thing for my BA hons research project finding research papers is impossible and i have at least 10 emails from proffessers confirming this!!! 2000 lit review due in on Friday!!!!!!! Helen Bilton, LTL, outdoorlearning.org, teachernet, are about the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Thanks Wolfie and Hali. Wolfie, I have all of those books you mentioned above (Muscles and Minds is Marjorie Ouvry btw ) so it looks like I am going to have to really read them properly and try to pick out the critiquing bits. Hali, I thought it would be quite a well researched area to look into (although maybe not the imaginative bit) but it seems that it isn't. I have made a note of all the links you posted, so hopefully I'll get somewhere. I would really like to use all of the barriers mentioned on here but I'm not allowed to reference to here so it makes it harder. Who better to critique the outdoor area than the people actually using it?? Good luck with your work by the way and thanks again to both of you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Not sure if this helps (with regard to barriers to outdoor play) but here's a link to a recent research project about risky play:- http://www.gulbenkian.org.uk/media/item/11...ly-19.12.07.pdf Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Clare, I'm going on a course at Early Excellence tomorrow all about outdoor play for babies and toddlers so I'll pay attention for any more links and critiques and get back to you later in the week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Play England/NCB has a lot of good stuff and an amazing reading list!! You can find it here: http://www.ncb.org.uk/dotpdf/open_access_2...e_cpis_0108.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Hi, I attended a conference recently which included talks about school's outdoor environments. Someone in the audience provided an interesting slant on things; she worked with victorian games and claimed that playgrounds (although criticised by people such as Ltl etc) were actually an ideal environment for these games. Don't know if you could look into that??? Essc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Hi there Have you tried looking up Forest School I am attending an advenced Forest School Leader course at Bridgwater College and Mandi Trout has done some great articles about these issues I think they were in Nursery World. Bridgwater College isn't the only place offering Forest School and I think there are some good websites from other colleges offering this sort of activity. Shelley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 There's a book by Helen Tovey in a series edited by Tina Bruce. It's called Debating Outdoor Play. I've been using it for my assignment, and it has some interesting arguments. Ones I can remember put forward the notion of the Forest school philosophy being based on an idealised nostalgic vision of childhood, and also argue the artificiality of bussing children to 'utopian' forest environments when they should be able to play out in this way in their own community environments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Crikey thats a bit strong, does this author live in an area where there is no greenery whatsoever!!! Luckily for me idyllic nostalgic childhood is just outside in our pre-school garden. Some people on my course have concrete squares this does not stop people getting outside and allowing children some fresh air and covering some basic nature activities. All cities have parks or they should have and there are no exercises or lesson plans I have done which would exclude any pre-school which didn't have access to a forest. Luckily there are still a few left in our countryside and I have seen a few patches of grass out there!!!! Didn't realise I was such an old fashioned girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Hi, I was interviewed by nursery world mag about my outdoor curriculum. It was published on jan 10th it could be still available if not i can send you a copy. I take my reception children on a mini bus every monday somewhere in our environment, linking my curriculum to these visits. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolfie Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Hi again - been to the course now! It was run by Jan White, who has just had a book published called "Playing and Learning Outdoors" ( Routledge). Apparently she has written articles relating to this in Nursery World as well. Two other publications that she referred to a lot were "Nurture through Nature" by Claire Warden (Mindstretchers 2007) and "Caring Spaces, Learning Places: children's environments that work" by Jim Greenman (Exchange Press Inc., 19880 - apparently hard to get hold of! The one organisation that she constantly referred to was Learning Through Landscapes - if you're a member, you have access to a wealth of articles online apparently. Don't know if any of this helps?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 thanks wolfie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 Hi there, I Hope this is ok to post I am having a bit of a mental block! I am currently working on a module for my foundation degree, on outdoor play. I am alalysing a research article on outdoor play and learning. As part of this I am devising a questionnaire for staff in my setting to gather information on their thoughts about outdoor play and the provision we provide. I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas for questions?? the questionnaire will link to the article but also I hope it will highlight aspects of our own outdoor learning and play environments at school. I will attach a copy when I have written it up a bit neater than rushed notes (!), but at the moment I have included questions on the staff's feelings about outdoor play, what they enjoy and do not enjoy, what they know about learning through play, which training if any they may have receieved and which aspects they feel the children enjoy the most. Many thanks in advance if anyone has any ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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