Why do outdoor play and learning matter?

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of outdoor environments as spaces for promoting children's learning, development and wellbeing. It examines the historical and contemporary outdoor play literature and looks at the status of outdoor play in the early years across early childhood education centres and schools, particularly in relation to how outdoor play is viewed within the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (DEEWR, 2009), the Natiornal Quality Standard (NQS) (ACECQA, 2016a) and the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2015). The chapter also provides an overview of contemporary issues impacting on children's outdoor play and the chapter perspectives presented in this book.