In this session we explored ideas around inclusion and opportunities for the very youngest children (birth to two) to be outdoors and in nature. The phrase ‘tiny humans’ was borrowed from Holt and Philo (2022, p. 819) who use the term to describe how:
babies and toddlers are at the crux of what it is to be human, raising potent questions about exactly ‘what kinds of human’ are they? [and how] their disruption [of space] exposes the normative expectations of behaviour in place.
As presenters, we briefly shared findings from two Froebel Trust funded projects and our ongoing research into democratic practices with these children and their families. Attendees also shared their own personal experiences including examples of practice, and discussed principles to consider when facilitating outdoor and nature engagement for very young children and their families.
The participants shared the professional and personal contexts which had influenced their interest in attending this session, including their understanding of why spaces outdoors are so important for young children. Their contexts included field study centres, countryside stewardship schemes, conservation, the National Trust, teaching and then the personal context of being a parent, grandparent or aunt.
As we exchanged resources and ideas, we were able to promote the work of The Froebel Trust. The idea that natural environments are good for babies and toddlers is recognised in the writing of Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852) who believed that this period of childhood has particular significance; the senses, through which the child experiences the world, require that ‘the surroundings… should be pure and clear – pure air, clear light, clear space’ (1826, p. 15). On the Froebel Trust website, there is a section dedicated to children and nature with a host of useful resources aimed at practitioners, parents/carers and academics.
Participants discussed the value of babies and toddlers being outdoors and, in particular, the positive impact on their social development. They described outdoor family events where even tiny babies were included, recognising that parents and carers place great value on taking very young children outdoors, even if they are ‘just’ held in the adults’ arms. They wondered what these children were taking from the experience. Others described early years settings where children spend most of their day outdoors and how such pedagogies require a shifting in the parents/carers’ perspectives, because of the wardrobe needed, or how children might return home covered in mud in winter and dust in summer.
As a group we concluded that we cannot think about babies and toddlers outdoors without thinking about the families they are part of: families who are confident to take their very young children into nature because they feel a sense of belonging there themselves.
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