Analyzing the Impact of Outdoor Activities on Children in Early Childhood Studies

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
Early Childhood Studies
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
Analytical commentary environment of learning and living
In this essay, I will be performing an in-depth analysis of an early year setting visited by me for
my group presentation. In order to gain an ideal understanding of nature, accessibility and risk
taking, I will be performing both types of research as well as literature review. During our visit
to the early setting, I noticed that there was a wide range of options for outdoor activities for
children. In this paper, the impact of these activities on children has also been analyzed. In order
to maintain the confidentiality of the document, I will be using the term setting an as the name of
the nursery visited by me. On our arrival to the mentioned setting, we were greeted by the
receptionist. Our student identification cards were checked for security purpose and finally, we
were allowed to enter. Next, we were greeted by the head teacher who provided us with a tour of
the nursery. The head teacher also provided us with the permission to click photograph s or our
research purpose. However, from our end, we had informed the head teacher that we would not
be clicking photographs of the children to maintain the confidentiality of the nursery. While
paying a visit to the nursery the six aspects assessed by us include the basketball court, the farm,
the performance stage, outdoor flooring activities, the climbing frame section and the area used
for growing vegetables.
The first topic that I will be discussing is the accessibility provided by Nursery setting A
to the children. The mentioned nursery has two outdoor sections one built for the children for
key stage one and another for the children of key stage two. However, the outdoor play
environment allows all the children to play together. This can be considered as an advantage. If
both younger, as well as older students, are allowed to play together, the younger student will be
able to avail the scope of getting inspired by the older ones. Not only that, outdoor activities will
help the children to gain social awareness and ability to develop an effective relationship with

2EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDIES
individuals around them. Another advantage noticed by me is the accessibility layout of each
playground. Considering the fact that all the outdoor flooring activities like vegetable firm and
basketball court are at one section of the playground, it provides children will full freedom and
accessibility.
Children are also encouraged to perform role play in Setting A which in turn, helps them to
develop their self-esteem, language, confidence and capability of social instruction and
communication. However, I have encountered a disadvantage in this area. The performance stage
is not big enough to accommodate and allows all the children to play on it. Although four
children are allowed to access the stage at one go, often complaints are received from children
that they are not getting enough time to play. Moreover, the stage is dominated by a few numbers
of children and as result, other children suffer. Children with a disability also suffer a lot while
navigating through the stage. As a result, they often miss out the chance to develop their
communicative and social interactive skills. According to me, the performance stag should be
made more spacious to ensure easy navigation and accessibility of the children.
The second topic chosen by me is the ‘nature aspect of the mentioned nursery. This aspect
enables the children to explore the nature on their own. For instance, Setting A has a veritable
growing area. Children of each class are encouraged to access this area periodically. There, the
children are encouraged to perform activities like planting seeds. In order to avoid the chaos,
confusion and accidence all children from all the classes are not allowed to enter the above
mention area at the same time. However, Froebel argues that children need to have their own
personal bond with the nature in order to ensure the development of their conscience. However,
the mentioned setting is not able to fulfill the mentioned criteria.