The therapeutic nature of outdoor play

Therapeutic skills for outdoor leaders

As a newly qualified Forest School Leader (and now champion) for forest school play and learning, I can certainly speak from experience for the therapeutic effect of learning outdoors. Nature’s therapeutic potential is well documented, and you can find many health services socially prescribing forest bathing or outdoor physical activity to improve physical and mental health conditions.

The forest school ethos and guiding principles help to promote the psychological wellbeing of children and learners through enabling autonomy and competence by adopting a learner centred approach and provides a nurturing space and environment for children to learn about themselves and others, to make friendships and develop new relationships (Forest School Association, 2023).

However, for many children who have additional needs or who are struggling to participate fully in learning, they are not always included in visits to outdoor environments. From my experience of working across a variety of different early years settings many practitioners, managers and head teachers feel that it can be overly burdensome or risky to include children who need one to one support, struggle to manage their emotions or follow instructions and maintain concentration. Often they feel the risks or logistics are too great e.g. what if they try to run away? Or how can we support their physical needs in an outdoor setting? This comes from wanting to keep children safe, but could they be limiting a group of children who may serve to gain the most from learning outdoors?

Therapeutic outdoor learning for children with SEND

I became particularly interested in the valuable role of outdoor learning for children with SEND whilst studying for the qualification of ‘Therapeutic Skills for Outdoor Leaders’ delivered by The Therapeutic Forest CIC. This course provides Level 3 Forest School Leaders with therapeutic skills and disability awareness training, empowering practitioners to capitalise on the therapeutic benefits of the forest.

Whilst studying this course I was able to apply my learning to my practice through leading groups designed specifically for children with SEND in outdoor spaces across Liverpool. For example, ‘Let’s Talk in the Garden’ is a nurturing and therapeutic outdoor stay and play session focusing on supporting children with down’s syndrome and their parents by teaching early communication skills.

Linking research to practice: The impact of learning in nature

During my studies I came across a research paper which is one of the first longitudinal studies of its kind in the UK to specifically focus on the impact of forest school sessions for disadvantaged children: The Hare and the Tortoise go to Forest School: taking the scenic route to academic attainment via emotional wellbeing outdoors (Mcree, Cutting and Sherwin 2018).

This research paper was interesting to me as it followed the same group of 11 disadvantaged (aged 5-7 years on entry) children who attended a weekly forest school session over 3 years.
The children were defined as disadvantaged in multiple ways including being highlighted as likely to underachieve, being economically and emotionally disadvantaged or with special educational needs (including behaviour difficulties); as well as all being eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) which is a standardized indicator of disadvantage across the country.

The main findings from this longitudinal mixed methods study were that for those 11 disadvantaged children an unhurried approach to outdoor learning in a forest school positively improved their school-readiness, achievement and emotional wellbeing. The mixed methods approach to data, including quantitative comparisons to their peers in terms of attendance and achievement lend weight to the study and to similar interventions now being used to address the rising inequalities in children’s outcomes.

The value of the Forest School approach

This study helps to demonstrate the value of the Forest School approach. This value comes when children have extended periods of uninterrupted play and learning in the natural environment. The title of the article links to the famous Aesop’s Fable of The Hare and the Tortoise. It focuses on an unhurried approach, moving at the children’s own pace. This links strongly to one of the first principles for the Forest School approach which is that Forest School is a long-term process of frequent and regular sessions in a woodland or natural environment, rather than a one-off visit.

This way of learning and unhurried approach is particularly important for children with additional learning needs and/or disabilities. Often these children respond particularly well to familiar, regular access with a predictable routine. In each of my own outdoor learning groups and Forest School sessions there are opportunities to take part in activities that allow children to embody the Forest School values.

The Forest School ethos is a learner centred approach which really puts the child at the heart of what you do rather than putting the curriculum first. Activities are provocations rather than must do activities. I often find children engage in these more readily once they have the confidence and they know they can choose and come back to it. The session always ends with hot chocolate around the fire.

The Forest School environment is beneficial for children because it is an entirely unique environment with different expectations compared with those faced by children in a traditional nursery or school day. Often these structured environments can be unsupportive or highly demanding for children with SEND and or behavioural difficulties, unhurried play outdoors either in a forest or in nature is a unique place to explore.

Physical therapeutic benefits of outdoor play

I also came across notable figures who strongly advocate for the innate physical therapeutic benefits of outdoor play, particularly in nature. One such person is Sally Goddard Blythe (author and consultant in the field of neuro-developmental education) who points out that physical activity is fundamental to learning and child development (Godard Blythe, 2005.)

Children of today have less movement opportunities in their daily lives than any previous generation She advocates for children to have the space and environment that is not only conducive to developing their physical skills and vestibular system, but one that is also less ordered and fosters their creativity and imagination.

As she states in her Nursery World article in 2020 “Motor skills support many aspects of formal education, including the ability to sit still, freedom from distractibility, the hand eye coordination needed for writing, the eye movements needed to support reading and the non-verbal skills that compromise up to 90 percent of effective communication, having an effect not only on educational achievement but also social skills for later life,” (Goddard Blythe, 2020). Yet she highlights that all too often an immature vestibular system can often be found amongst children who suffer from specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, problems of attention, language impairment and emotional problems.

Children’s natural desire to move their bodies

It is through movement and sensation that children strive to explore the world around them. So rather than priming children to sit still in readiness for school and formal learning (something which can be extremely difficult for early years children and particularly children with SEND) perhaps we need schools and settings that will embrace children’s natural desire to move their bodies. Children could be offered opportunities to link stories to physical movements outside, explore music, rhythm and rhyme through dance, use numerals and counting during physical activities such as hopscotch etc. Whilst delivering Forest School sessions it surprises and saddens me still how many children have never experienced the simple, physical joy of rolling down a hill.

Impact and implementation

Parents who attended the Forest School sessions and outdoor stay and play groups I have delivered commented on the highly engaged, calm and unhurried nature of their children’s play. They observed behaviours in their children that they had previously not seen in other sessions or groups. One parent commented how her child had never been interested in other children’s play before (being non-verbal), however now he was seemingly taking an interest and would check-in with different groups throughout the session when their play interested him.

Another surprise for some parents was how quickly and readily the children understood and responded to the rules and boundaries of the fire circle (a visual timetable and non-verbal signs support this understanding as well as regular routine and structure). Other parents noticed how markedly less distressed their children were in this outdoor environment. The feedback from all involved has been 100% positive.

It is my belief that you don’t need a specific qualification to embed some of these principles into your practice to enable you to support the children you work with to access the wonderful therapeutic nature of outdoor learning.

How you can provide therapeutic outdoor learning:

• Adopt an unhurried approach to outdoor learning and play. Giving children the time, space and ongoing regular contact with nature.
• Implement a child/learner centred approach to your outdoor learning and play. Follow the lead and interests of the child. Move away from focused activities and utilise provocations for play to interest, motivate and engage children.
• Embed a familiar routine that children can easily follow (with visuals or simple signs to support). Leave enough time for extended play but have a routine that helps children to feel safe and establishes boundaries.
• Utilise physical movement to support learning. Link movements to familiar books. Use dance, rhythm and rhyme to teach new words or numbers. Learn about self-expression through physical movement.
• Help develop children’s vestibular system to aid concentration and later reading and writing through lots of physical activities such as spinning, climbing, hanging, jumping and rolling.