3.1 Environments matter
While the value of time spent outdoors is generally recognised, there has perhaps been a lack of attention to the quality of these environments. Froebel’s vivid description of babies as an ‘appropriating eye’ reminds us of the need to consider the sensory qualities of outdoor spaces. Session 2 highlighted the tendency to create safe, artificial spaces for the youngest children, but there are concerns that these may offer little sensory stimulation. Contrasted to Froebelian understanding of the importance of time spent from birth ‘with the clear, still objects of nature’ contemporary outdoor provision can be both limited and limiting. There is a need to consider how natural elements can be built into spaces for the youngest children.
Listen to Tina Bruce discussing what ‘a life in and with nature’ looks like in present day practice.
Transcript
TINA BRUCE: I think it's very interesting to think about the difference between being in and engaged with nature. It's very easy, isn't it, to just go for a walk and just thoroughly enjoy a walk in a park or maybe a walk out in the countryside. And you just really enjoy the walk.
But you don't really look at what's around you. And so a big difference. You've got a lovely-- one of these family songs about the pigeon house. And with the pigeon house, and the child goes for a walk with their-- I think it's probably the mother. And they look at the birds.
But the child is leading it. So the child is looking at things at their height, partly. It might be a little field mouse or something that they see. It might be a robin hopping on the ground. They might see a worm. They might see a beetle-- all sorts of things.
And it's just go-- it's so that children are actually noticing what's there. It's not about being put in a pram and pushed through the park and then going home. So, it's lovely things like, when you get to the edge of the lake and you want to see the fish that are in there, a toddler would be very good at lying on their stomach, peeping over, and then quite often the goldfish or whatever would come if you were in the park.
I've done this so many times with toddlers. And they're terribly, terribly sensible about it. And they're thrilled at being allowed to be so near to the water. And they really are looking at the fish. They are engaging with nature. It's very different to being in nature where you just walk around and you don't really engage with it. So it's a very big difference.