ABSTRACT
The outdoors stimulates and excites children of all ages enabling them to explore and discover fascinating worlds and experience offerings richly provided in the natural world; as Edwards states: ‘Everyone knows that children would rather be out than in . . . There are more vivid, more practical, more inspiring ways of finding out about the world we live in’ (2002, cited in Day, 2007: 177). Providing possibilities for play both indoors and out are vital. Reasons are rarely given why children are not able to play indoors, but how many times might you have heard, or said, ‘too hot’ ‘too cold’ ‘too wet’ ‘too dangerous’ all with children’s best interest in mind with regards to playing outdoors? Our intention within this chapter is not to provide you with a manual or a handbook of activities for children outdoors, but through a series of encounters, a meander on a journey exploring outdoor possibilities for all children.
