Outdoor learning and play experiences are an essential part of young children's development. The importance of offering children first-hand experience of the natural world becomes more urgent as research evidence demonstrates the benefits of becoming physically and emotionally involved with the natural world. Outdoor Learning through the Seasons shows how we can encourage young children to engage with nature on a daily basis throughout the year. Using the four seasons as a framework, it supports adults to develop their own awareness of the world around them and feel confident about taking children outside every day. There are suggestions for caring for gardens and wildlife through the year, and ideas to brighten grey winter days, enjoy the summer sunshine or explore in the snow. Now featuring full-colour photographs throughout, this new edition has been updated to include references to recent research, new material on Forest Schools, discussion questions for practitioners and in-depth case studies of learning in action. Features include: Ideas for all seasons, weather conditions and working with the four elements: earth, air, water and fire Guidance on fulfilling the learning requirements of EYFS and the Characteristics of Effective Learning Advice on working with parents and the role of adults Practical tips and suggestions of how to make the most of a small space or how to re-plan an existing space Useful reference lists of further resources including stories, poems and websites This practical book is essential reading for all those looking to provide rich and stimulating outdoor learning and play provision for children in early years settings on a daily basis and for parents and carers wishing to get the most of time outdoors with their children.

These days, running a club is an accepted part of the teacher's remit, adding additional pressure to an already substantial workload. The Big Book of Primary Club Resources: Creative Arts aims to ease that burden, providing a simple and clear week-by-week plan for creative arts focused clubs. Each chapter aims to explore the creative arts in a context that complements classroom practice without specifically following the National Curriculum. Containing two years' worth of club sessions, this book is a quick, accessible and easy-to-use guide which provides clear and creative ideas, all of which are easy to resource, set up and run. A myriad of art forms is covered, including: Textiles Collage Photography Artist and illustration study Sculpture Abstract and 3D art All activities are adapted for three age groups (4-7 years; 7-9 years and 9-11 years) and achieve highly satisfying outcomes for pupils. Taking the strain out of club planning, this book is an invaluable resource for teachers and teaching assistants running clubs for children aged 4-11.

These days, running a club is an accepted part of the teacher's remit, adding additional pressure to an already substantial workload. The Big Book of Primary Club Resources: Creative Arts aims to ease that burden, providing a simple and clear week-by-week plan for creative arts focused clubs. Each chapter aims to explore the creative arts in a context that complements classroom practice without specifically following the National Curriculum. Containing two years' worth of club sessions, this book is a quick, accessible and easy-to-use guide which provides clear and creative ideas, all of which are easy to resource, set up and run. A myriad of art forms is covered, including: Textiles Collage Photography Artist and illustration study Sculpture Abstract and 3D art All activities are adapted for three age groups (4-7 years; 7-9 years and 9-11 years) and achieve highly satisfying outcomes for pupils. Taking the strain out of club planning, this book is an invaluable resource for teachers and teaching assistants running clubs for children aged 4-11.

Children are one of the major audiences for museums, but their visits are often seen solely from the point of view of museum learning. In Snapshots of Museum Experience, Will Buckingham draws upon Elee Kirk's research amongst child visitors to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, to take a different approach. Using a method of photo-elicitation with four-and five-year-old child visitors to the museum, the book investigates children's experience of the museum, and in the process undermines many of our assumptions about the interests, needs and demands of child museum visitors. Drawing together the fields of museum studies and childhood studies, the book considers children as active creators of the museum visit. It investigates the way that children navigate and take control of the physical and social spaces of the museum, finding their own idiosyncratic pathways through these spaces. It also explores how elements of the museum 'light up', becoming salient to the child visitor. Finally, it investigates how children make sense through intellectually and imaginatively engaging with these elements of the museum visit. Snapshots of Museum Experience gives a unique insight into the sheer diversity of children's museum experiences and discusses how museums might cater more successfully to the needs of their child visitors. As such, it should be of great interest to academics, researchers and students in the fields of museum studies, visitor studies and childhood studies. It should also be essential reading for museum educators and exhibition designers.

"We believe that every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstances. Learning outside the classroom is about raising achievement through an organised, powerful approach to learning in which direct experience is of prime importance."

LOTC Initiative manifesto

In Learning Outside the Primary Classroom, the educationalist and writer Fred Sedgwick explores in a practical way the many opportunities for intense learning that children and teachers can find outside the confines of the usual learning environment, the classroom.

This original work is based on tried and tested methods from UK primary schools. The author draws on current concerns in the educational world regarding outdoor learning as exemplified by the eight sector Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) initiative (supported by Ofsted), but remains refreshingly independent in approach.

Using a metaphor of concentric circles Learning Outside the Primary Classroom starts with a brief opening chapter based in the classroom itself before moving outwards to explore the learning possibilities presented by the immediate environs of the school playgrounds, gym halls, sports fields etc. Later chapters move beyond the school gates to explore the local shops, parks, religious centres, libraries and town halls and the myriad learning opportunities they represent. The final chapters explore the possibilities of larger scale day trips to major galleries and museums and more ambitious field trips.

Now in its third edition, Outdoor Learning in the Early Years is the complete guide to creating effective outdoor environments for young children 's learning. Comprehensively revised and updated throughout, this book covers every aspect of working outdoors in the early years and fully explains the importance of outdoor play to children 's development.

Key topics covered include:

• how to manage and set up the outdoor area
• what children gain from being outside
• how to allow children to take managed risks
• making sense of work and play
• how outdoor provision helps children become self regulatory
• providing for both boys and girls in the outdoor environment
• research supporting the outdoor approach.

A book for practitioners at every level of their career; each chapter includes discussions and questions for continuing development that can easily be incorporated into INSET as well as training within further or higher education.

Outdoor Learning in the Early Years contains a multitude of ideas and activities for working outdoors in the early years and provides a framework within which professionals can analyse and develop their outdoor provision and environment. This book is essential reading for all EYFS and Key Stage 1 practitioners, and for trainee teachers, their tutors, and mentors.

While recess provides children with a time to play and take a break from the school day, research has shown that it is also a necessary and vital part of their social, emotional, and academic development. This book provides tools and strategies for school mental health professionals, teachers, and administrators to evaluate and improve the recess experience in order to ensure that children benefit as much as possible from this important time. Using a data-based problem solving strategy, the author presents methods for assessing playgrounds, identifying features that may negatively impact students and their social interactions, intervening to modify and strengthen these features, and monitoring to guarantee that the interventions have created successful outcomes. An accompanying CD contains forms, examples, PowerPoint presentations, and other resources to support the procedures discussed throughout the book.

Wet weekend? Home for half-term? Great Family Days In has got you covered with over 75 tried and tested activities that make the most of spending quality time together.

From Achievable Art and Whizzy Easy Science to Screen-Free Game Time, chapters are organized to help you easily find inspiration for activities that will fill your day with fun. Whether you’re creating your very own melted-crayon masterpiece or blizzard bottle, or conducting your first FamFest or mini Olympics, Great Family Days In is a one-stop shop for ideas, showing that you don’t need fancy plans or money to keep your family entertained at home.

These beautifully illustrated activities do not require any specific skills or hard to get resources. From thirty-minute time-fillers to ideas to last the whole afternoon, activities can easily be adapted to suit any age, interest or timescale, making it easy to enjoy and relax into the process of creating and building memories together, whatever the outcome.

In March 2020, Claire Balkind, also known as The What Now Mum, founded of the hugely popular Family Lockdown Tips & Ideas Facebook page which quickly amassed an engaged following of more than a million people. There, she and the community she helped build share fuss-free games, crafts, challenges and more that will keep children and adults of all ages entertained.

This book seeks to bring together the two disciplines of informal and outdoor education, and challenges readers to think differently about outdoor and adventure education. It develops core ideas and thinking about informal education within outdoor settings, and explores how its principles and practice can enhance outdoor education. A wide range of contributors look in detail at the concept of change in the outdoors, whilst also considering the ways in which this expanding field might exploit opportunities offered to young people and adults to engage in reflective informal education. It encourages outdoor educators to experience their immediate surroundings in new and innovative ways and grasp the challenge of promoting a sustainable lifestyle. Offering a fresh perspective on shifting the outdoor education agenda from that of skills acquisition and 'narrow learning' to the social and political, as well as aesthetic and philosophical opportunities embodied within the outdoor experience, this book will be valuable reading for those studying or working in the field of outdoor education.

There has been enormous growth in faculty-led short-term study abroad programs because they offer flexibility and expand opportunities for students and faculty members who wish to study and work abroad, but do not have the resources or time to spend a semester or year away. These experiential programs offer unique opportunities for university faculty to teach their disciplines abroad while engaging students in direct, authentic cultural encounters for transformative change. This volume provides a detailed framework and guidance on how to plan and implement a faculty-led study abroad program. Seasoned faculty leaders and administrators describe an overall program development process, comprehensively identify the elements for designing the curriculum, and offer advice and solutions to unique challenges inherent in various types of programs. The contributors cover the logistics for managing program details at home and abroad, provide advice on writing a university proposal, creating a budget, the marketing and recruitment of students, handling abroad logistics, and preparing students for the abroad experience aEURO" all illustrated by examples drawn from their experiences. Most importantly, readers will come to understand the difference between experiences that are more touristic than scholarly, and gain guidance on designing or redesigning their own programs to ensure academically sound, culturally relevant curricula that complements the international field site. The opening section sets the scene by describing the overall process of designing and delivering faculty-led abroad programs, from conception to implementation. The core of the book is grounded in evidence-based research for designing international curricula and syllabi, and includes five case studies illustrating short term programs focused on interdisciplinary subject matter, field study, global service learning, internship immersion, and language and cultural study. This practical guide concludes with faculty activities critical to a programaEURO (TM)s success: marketing and recruiting students; preparing teaching events for before, during, and after the abroad experience; and, formulating a plan to leave a small footprint abroad. This book constitutes a handbook for college and university professors who plan to or already conduct short-term study abroad programs as well as administrators and staff of global and international programs.

This book helps young black males, educators, policy makers, parents, and all other interested parties to understand the importance of education alongside athletic pursuits. In the world today, many young black males view athletic participation as the way to secure a successful future. Yet for the majority of them, dreams of playing professional sports rarely pan out. Many end up returning to a life of poverty as a result of the sports lure which deceives them and entices them to focus exclusively on athletic talent at the expense of their education. This book presents a social historical and critical deconstruction introducing readers to this sports lure, revealing what makes it so powerful in the lives of these youths. As Isabel Ann Dwornik documents, centuries-worth of racism in the United States is at the core of this phenomenon, which has affected the academic identity development of black male youths and has discouraged them from taking full advantage of their schooling.

This book helps young black males, educators, policy makers, parents, and all other interested parties to understand the importance of education alongside athletic pursuits. In the world today, many young black males view athletic participation as the way to secure a successful future. Yet for the majority of them, dreams of playing professional sports rarely pan out. Many end up returning to a life of poverty as a result of the sports lure which deceives them and entices them to focus exclusively on athletic talent at the expense of their education. This book presents a social historical and critical deconstruction introducing readers to this sports lure, revealing what makes it so powerful in the lives of these youths. As Isabel Ann Dwornik documents, centuries-worth of racism in the United States is at the core of this phenomenon, which has affected the academic identity development of black male youths and has discouraged them from taking full advantage of their schooling.

Now in its third edition, Outdoor Learning in the Early Years is the complete guide to creating effective outdoor environments for young children's learning. Comprehensively revised and updated throughout, this book covers every aspect of working outdoors in the early years and fully explains the importance of outdoor play to children's development. Key topics covered include: how to manage and set up the outdoor area what children gain from being outside how to allow children to take managed risks making sense of work and play how outdoor provision helps children become self regulatory providing for both boys and girls in the outdoor environment research supporting the outdoor approach. A book for practitioners at every level of their career; each chapter includes discussions and questions for continuing development that can easily be incorporated into INSET as well as training within further or higher education. Outdoor Learning in the Early Years contains a multitude of ideas and activities for working outdoors in the early years and provides a framework within which professionals can analyse and develop their outdoor provision and environment. This book is essential reading for all EYFS and Key Stage 1 practitioners, and for trainee teachers, their tutors, and mentors.

Children are one of the major audiences for museums, but their visits are often seen solely from the point of view of museum learning. In Snapshots of Museum Experience, Will Buckingham draws upon Elee Kirk's research amongst child visitors to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, to take a different approach. Using a method of photo-elicitation with four-and five-year-old child visitors to the museum, the book investigates children's experience of the museum, and in the process undermines many of our assumptions about the interests, needs and demands of child museum visitors. Drawing together the fields of museum studies and childhood studies, the book considers children as active creators of the museum visit. It investigates the way that children navigate and take control of the physical and social spaces of the museum, finding their own idiosyncratic pathways through these spaces. It also explores how elements of the museum 'light up', becoming salient to the child visitor. Finally, it investigates how children make sense through intellectually and imaginatively engaging with these elements of the museum visit. Snapshots of Museum Experience gives a unique insight into the sheer diversity of children's museum experiences and discusses how museums might cater more successfully to the needs of their child visitors. As such, it should be of great interest to academics, researchers and students in the fields of museum studies, visitor studies and childhood studies. It should also be essential reading for museum educators and exhibition designers.

At Our Best: Building Youth-Adult Partnerships in Out-of-School Time Settings brings together the voices of over 50 adults and youth to explore both the promises and challenges of intergenerational work in out-of-school time (OST) programs. Comprised of 14 chapters, this book features empirical research, conceptual essays, poetry, artwork, and engaged dialogue about the complexities of youth-adult partnerships in practice. At Our Best responds to key questions that practitioners, scholars, policymakers, and youth navigate in this work, such as: What role can (or should) adults play in supporting youth voice, learning, and activism? What approaches and strategies in youth-adult partnerships are effective in promoting positive youth development, individual and collective well-being, and setting-level change? What are the tensions and dilemmas that arise in the process of doing this work? And, how do we navigate youth-adult partnerships in the face of societal oppressions such as adultism, racism, and misogyny? Through highlighting contemporary cases of authentic youth-adult partnerships in youth programs, this fourth volume of the IAP series on OST aims to introduce, engage, and sharpen educators' understandings of the power and promise of these relationships. Together, the authors in this volume suggest that both building youth-adult partnerships and actively reflecting on intergenerational work are foundational practices to achieving transformational change in our OST organizations, schools, neighborhoods, and communities.

Outdoor adventure activities are becoming an increasingly popular part of physical education programs. The physical risks of these activities are often foremost in the minds of both instructors and participants, yet it is managing group behavior which can prove to be the most difficult. This is the first book for students and practitioners to address this essential aspect of outdoor adventure education (OAE). Outlining key evidence-based training practices, this book explains how to interact with groups ranging from adolescents to military veterans within a variety of outdoor adventure education contexts. It provides practical advice on how to promote positive behavior, while also offering guidance on how to mitigate negative behavior and manage a variety of challenging behavioral issues. With ten chapters full of real world examples from rock climbing to wilderness trekking, it provides a comprehensive guide to understanding the complexities of behavioral group management (BGM) in theory and practice. This book is vital reading for students training to be outdoor physical education instructors and for practitioners looking to enhance their group management skills.

The playHOORAY! Handbook by Early Years specialist and mum Claire Russell is a lifesaver for busy parents looking for activities to entertain babies, toddlers and little kids indoors and outdoors. The book includes over 100 ideas for activities, arts, crafts and games using items from the house and garden. Covering everything from One Pound Play and No-Prep Play, to the benefits of positive screentime and making homework playful, this book offers a helping hand to parents and carers on the days you need it. Find the playHOORAY! community on social media for daily inspiration and L!VE play demonstrations from Claire's kitchen where viewing with a cup of tea is compulsory.

School playtimes account for 20% of a child's school life, but how can schools ensure that this time is as beneficial as possible for primary school pupils? Emphasising the importance of play in child development, this book identifies the key challenges facing schools during break times and sets out a complete strategy for effectively managing playtimes that are fun-filled and offer children greater long-term benefits. With before and after case studies showing how school playtimes have been transformed through the author's OPAL Primary Programme, this book demonstrates how to improve common issues such as behaviour, staffing, space and facilities in a sustainable way that capitalises on investments in equipment and training. Promoting wellbeing and healthy child development, this book provides inspiring reading for primary school staff and play workers, and creative ideas and ready-to-use solutions that will help schools to meet Ofsted criteria for excellent play.

The date, the gown, the tux, the theme, the corsage. For many teenagers the prom is the highlight of their high school career, seen as the rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood.
In Prom Night, Amy Best interview countless teens about their prom experiences, and looks at popular media to understand today's teens. She finds that with the rising purchasing power of youth culture, the prom is now an industry unto itself with its own magazines, films, clothing, accessories and services.

Although the benefits of learning outside are well documented and more and more teachers are heading out (post-pandemic) to teach their classes, outdoor activities often decline as children progress through their education. There are many reasons for this: lack of time in the curriculum, lack of training, lack of teacher confidence, or simply lack of inspiration. Educating Outside contains a bank of outdoor learning ideas that can be used to enhance and enrich your classes' learning experiences across the curriculum; including in science, history, geography, art and design, English and maths. Each lesson idea is linked to a specific programme of study and outlines required resources, links to soft skills, cross-curricular opportunities, and a broad lesson plan with suggested outcomes and photos. All the ideas take place within the school grounds themselves, which means plenty of opportunities to try out new activities without lengthy risk assessments, extra time and additional expense.

Forest School's innovative outdoor approach offers specific benefits to learners with autism, including increased social skills, raised self-esteem and improved sensory function. This guide raises autism awareness amongst practitioners by providing practical and easy-to-follow advice for adapting Forest School activities for those with autism. For those coming from a mainstream Forest School background, the author offers an introduction to autism and shows what Forest School can offer people with autism - both children and adults - with first-person accounts that highlight its success with this group. The guide gives advice on the social and sensory benefits, offers practical advice on safety and on how to set up a Forest School and finally presents specific activities to be incorporated into practitioners' routines.

""For all members of the Leave No Child Inside movement who are engaged with early childhoodas educators, child care providers, nature center staff, parents, landscape designers, or pediatriciansthis book is an essential resource.,""
Louise Chawla, Children and Nature Network, USA. .

What do children learn through playing outdoors?. What makes an effective and challenging play space?. What is a safe environment and can children be too safe?. How can adults best support challenging play outdoors? . . . Young children seek adventure and challenge in their play outdoors. They look for places they can explore and spaces they can transform. However, provision for exciting and challenging play outdoors is often restricted because of an over-emphasis on safety, and also because the value of play outdoors is not well understood.

. . This book offers a clear rationale for why outdoor play is essential in young childrens lives and learning. It asks fundamental questions about what sort of environments we want for young children, as well as examining controversial issues of risk and safety.

. . The author identifies key principles underpinning the design of challenging outdoor play environments and examines how children use and transform space to create their own imaginary worlds. The essential role of the adult in supporting and extending childrens free play is examined and implications for practice identified.

. . This book makes an important contribution to current debates on risk, safety and challenge in outdoor environments for young children. It brings together research from a range of different disciplines, as well as illustrative examples of childrens play and talkoutdoors.

. . "Playing Outdoors" is inspiring reading for early childhood practitioners, students, play workers, parents, policy makers and all those seeking to develop challenging outdoor play areas..

This is the first-ever Forest School-themed activity card deck, offering 48 games, crafts and skill-building activities to enjoy outdoors. Aimed at parents, carers, teachers and Forest School group leaders, this is a uniquely handy reference tool to tuck into a pocket and take out into the woods to inspire outdoor fun. It complements Jane Worroll & Peter Houghton's two previous books (Play the Forest School Way and A Year of Forest School), containing activities from those books in abbreviated form. The cards are grouped into four "suits", each with 12 cards: Team Games (fun, high-energy games to play together); Survival Skills (working together to build dens, make fires, gather wild food and cook it); Nature Spotlight (exploring the natural world in more detail); and Forest Craft (woodland-themed makes). A booklet explains how to use the deck: forest school leaders or parents can get kids involved in leading the play (flicking through the cards and choosing an activity) and the suits will also help adults in considering how a session might be structured (with the kids getting final say looking at the cards). The booklet also gives notes on safety, the Forest School ethos, basic kit and other key need-to-knows.

Fun easy games for parents and teachers to play with kids of all ages

Play is increasingly recognized by neuroscientists and educators as a vital component in brain development, academic success and learning social skills. In this inspiring and useful resource, Barbara Sher provides step-by-step directions for how to use children's natural interests at different stages of their development to help them develop a wealth of sensory motor and social skills. All the games have also been designed to provide plenty of joyful opportunities for encouraging inclusion.Offers strategies for helping all kids, but especially those with special needs, to develop social, motor and sensory skillsFilled with simple games using common materials that can be used by teachers, parents, and caregivers with both individual kids and groupsProvides explanations and examples of how the games can aid in a child's development

This resource offers parents and teachers a fun and easy way to include all children in activities that will engage all of their senses and promote important skills.

From childhood to adolescence, young people are enrolled in various public or private forms of educational arrangements outside regular school lessons. These activities can be summarized by the term extended education. The volume provides an overview of extended education in multiple nations around the world. Different models, policies, methods, and research findings are discussed from an international point of view. Children participate in school- or community-based programs, forms of private tutoring or after-school activities such as art courses or academic clubs, or they attend extracurricular activities at all-day schools or leisure time centres. In as far as these activities and programmes focus on the social, emotional and academic development of children and young people and are pedagogically structured to make it easier for the participants to learn specific contents they can be summarized by the term extended education. The volume aims at three main aspects: Firstly, it explores major characteristics of extended education as an emerging research field, defines what this research field is (and is not), and points to areas/nations/regions where we know very little about extended education. Secondly, the volume provides a potential framework for future cross-national research (collaborative and comparative research) on extended education we are lacking so far. And thirdly, the volume sheds light on the national and international features of extended education and suggests future developments in this field of education. The volume focuses on childhood and adolescence (through secondary education, including college students), though some lifelong implications are discussed as well. It encompasses 18 articles which cover extended education in 12 different countries around the globe.