ABSTRACT
Any consideration of children being outdoors must take account of nature’s ability to invoke “feelings of wonder, wonderment, awe, joy and inner peace”. In recent years, it has become more apparent that these benefits, as perceived by those involved, can have a positive impact on learning outdoors, such as improving children’s cognitive development, health/well-being and resilience. This chapter explores ideas on the importance of the outdoors in promoting and developing young children’s health, well-being, resilience and learning. It reviews case studies from Wales, where a new teacher-led curriculum is being developed, to examine key pedagogic theories, including Grit theory, the concept of risk and mindfulness. The chapter describes the impact of community engagement in developing a university’s Outdoor Learning Centre (OLC), which led to a previously unused strip of ancient Welsh woodland on campus being developed to introduce a suite of log circle classrooms and a log cabin largely funded by charitable trusts.
