Outdoor Learning and Play: Ages 8 - 12


Contrary to prevailing views among a growing number of politicians and school boards, play promotes child development and equips children for academic tasks. In other words, play does not steal from reading, writing, and arithmetic, but rather enhances the social and cognitive bases for such skills. Play is a fundamental right of all children and must be preserved.
Joe L. Frost, 2005.


This book affords educators with a rationale for elementary and middle school children's outdoor learning and play activities. In order to maximize opportunities for children's intellectual, social, and emotional learning in the outdoors, this collection of articles provides teachers with both the explanation, "why," and the strategies, "how," to plan for quality outdoor experiences.

One of our many concerns is that with limited outside experience, children themselves will fail to regard the value of the out of-doors as an environment. Teachers report children no longer know what to do when taken out-of-doors. Puddles, grassy fields, and snow piles no longer serve as catalysts for curiosity and exploration. In fact, teachers also say some children decline the opportunity to go outside because they consider it hot, cold, or boring. As children lose their interest in and fondness for the out-of-doors, they also may lose their respect for its importance and regard for its value.

This book includes a collection of writings that will enable classroom teachers and other adults who work with children to effectively plan learning and play opportunities in the out-of-doors. The first section provides a historical foundation for outdoor play and learning, a rationale for understanding different physical environments and playscapes, and guidelines for the inclusion of populations with special needs in the out-of-doors. Section II provides a developmental framework for justifying elementary and middle school children's outdoor activities. Chapters address the relationship between the out-of-doors and children's developmental stages, the role of recess in children's social and emotional development, and the possibility of community and conflict resolution. Chapters in Section III describe both the potential and practicality of using the outdoors as a classroom for studying the sciences, social studies, arts, and geography curricula. Experts in their respective fields were invited to write chapters to support particular content areas. Each section targets an overriding principle, including theoretical and historical foundations, developmental issues, and curriculum integration.

Kathleen Glascott Burriss and Barbara Foulks Boyd, Editors, 2005. 240 pp. ISBN-13 978-0-87173-165-4
No. 1050 $22.00 ($17.60 ACEI members)


Table of Contents