Category Archives: Outdoor play

Outdoor play

Moving on from the zero risk childhood

Posted on January 11, 2012 | 13 comments

Girl climbing a treeThe ‘cotton wool kid’ – cosseted, watched over, insulated from all possible harm – has become a potent symbol of our fear-filled, risk-averse times. Across the rich nations, children are statistically safer today than at any time in history [pdf link]. But the insidious question ‘what if…?’ crowds out common sense, and clouds our good judgement. Continue reading →

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Posted in Education, Outdoor play, Parenting, Risk

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Olympic playground plans unveiled

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 4 comments

The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) has announced the winners of the design competitions for the north and south hubs of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Congratulations to both winning teams, and commiserations to all the runners-up.

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Posted in Nature, Outdoor play, play, Play spaces, playground, Public space

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A brief history of the popsicle test

Posted on December 13, 2011 | 11 comments

Children and adults in a popsicle storeHow do you measure the child-friendliness of a neighbourhood? Here’s one test. Would you, as a parent of an 8-year-old child living in that neighbourhood, let your child make their own way to a shop and buy a popsicle (or any variety of ice-cream) – and could your child get the frozen treat back home before it melted?

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Posted in Mobility, Outdoor play, Public policy, Risk, Urbanism

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Out of sight, out of mind?

Posted on December 2, 2011 | 9 comments
Boys climbing a tree

Image from St Joseph’s OSHC, QLD, Australia

I was recently told about an article on tree-climbing, by an Australian after-school service. It rightly makes the case that the benefits of this activity clearly outweigh the risks. The video footage certainly reinforces this, showing the children’s appetite for the experience, and their obvious competence. And yet, even though I think that what St Joseph’s is doing here is terrific, something in the clip jarred with me. It was the very presence of the grown-ups. Such a contrast from my own childhood memories of climbing trees. Continue reading →

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Posted in Child development, Education, Outdoor play, Parenting, play, Risk

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Why does nature matter to children? What’s the evidence?

Posted on November 28, 2011 | 15 comments

Sowing the seeds literature review coverWhat happens when children spend time in natural environments – and what happens if they do not? What does the empirical evidence say? And what other insights might the research literature hold? These were the questions that I wanted to answer in my literature review [pdf link] for the Sowing the Seeds project – published on 17th November, alongside the main report. Continue reading →

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Posted in Child development, Education, Health, Learning, Nature, Outdoor play, Public policy, Public space

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London moves to reconnect children with nature

Posted on November 18, 2011 | 21 comments

Sowing the seeds report front coverMy new report Sowing the Seeds: Reconnecting children with nature was launched at City Hall yesterday morning. The report, written for the London Sustainable Development Commission (the body that advises the Mayor of London on sustainability) sets out a new vision for children’s relationship with nature, and maps out an action plan to reintroduce nature into their lives.

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Posted in Child development, Health, Learning, Nature, Outdoor play, Public policy, Public space

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