Outdoor play in early childhood education: Possibilities for children’s participation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.33384Keywords:
Outdoor play, The right to play, Participation rights, Sociology of childhood, Early childhood educationAbstract
The research on the basis of this paper arises from a central concern regarding contemporary childhood and the threats that have been carried out about outdoor play. This study also has its theoretical matrix in the sociology of childhood, with a focus on issues related to children's participation. We proposed to understand the dimensions of participation of children in outdoor play in early childhood education contexts. The fieldwork took place in two kindergartens with pedagogical practices that privilege outdoor play, one in Norway and the other one in Portugal. To answer our research question, we used the ethnographic-inspired case study methodology, seeking a dialogue between the two contexts under study. From the results, we discussed themes that emerged in our analysis and, regarding the kindergarten in Portugal, we built two axes of reflection. One of the axes reveals participation through children's decisions, manifested in part by speech and in part by action. Children's decisions are revealed above all in informal moments, through the choice of spaces where they play, materials, their times and activities. The second axis includes the children's initiatives and achievements, which refer to their participation mainly in the form of action, through the body and the movement. In this paper, we highlight actions that refer to playing with risks, explorations and discoveries, constructions, as well as challenges and problems. We also emphasize that the outdoors as a place of play seems to contribute to an expansion of the space and time dimensions in children's experience.
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