Working With Children Outdoors

In his popular book, Cultivating Outdoor Classrooms, Eric Nelson makes this observation:

"Working outdoors with children is different because the space is larger and has a different nature (pun intended).  Outdoors, children should be less controlled and directed by adults.  They can engage in more complex and less structured activities.  This doesn't mean they're out of control — it means that when they are deeply engaged, they are focused, happy and peaceful, even when very energetic.

"Because outdoor play is so open ended, teachers are often puzzled about their role in it.  Given that today such an issue is made of children's safety, many teachers decide that their role is to control children's actions to ensure that no one gets hurt.  Such thinking fails to distinguish between supervision and control; it often takes the form of telling children what to do — including how to play.  While this may make children safer in the short term, in the long run, it increases their risk because it fails to give them opportunities to manage their own risks successfully.  Children who aren't given the chance to learn how to manage themselves often get into trouble as soon as the teacher isn't present.  That's hard on the child and hard on you."

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