Help Need your thoughts or any ideas on dissertation on outdoor play

[lyndsey246]

year 3 student! early childhood studies

i have to do a dissertation and proposal, and any thoughts and ideas would be great :)

Planning to do my dissertation on " the importance and value of outdoor learning"

broken down the question which may help?

what is considered to be a good outdoor space?
Does an outdoor play area/space restrict children's learning and development?
Does outdoor learning help support all holistic development?

not to sure on the question yet and whether it is to broad.

unsure of what i can use to answer my dissertation question. i also have to carry out a bit of research based in outdoor play

any thoughts and ideas would be great!!!!!

I'd approach local children's centres and nurseries and see if there's anyone willing to talk with you/show you around their outdoor spaces. Some nurseries take part in the 'forest schools' thing, that might be an interesting one to look into as well.

IMO outside space needs some sort of foliage ie concrete not good enough. I live in a flat and feel my toddler is missing out in not having an outside space. Fresh air you can't beat it! It's textures as well.

Could you moniter/ test sleep time/ quality after outdoor play compared to indoor play?

I didn't do childcare but Law instead and wrote a 20,000 word dissertation (for which I got an A smug grin)

I would definitely try to narrow down the question somewhat, the narrower the question the more specific your research and eventual piece of work will be. The risk with an overly broad question is that it risks making the piece of work cover a large subject in little detail when what you really want is to cover a specific topic in a great deal of detail.

Not sure what counts as early childhood - is it pre-school? Where do you live? There is a primary school for children with severe ASD very near me (Sheffield) which has amazing outdoor facilities and the staff there will talk for ever about the impact those facilities have on their students. If this would be of interest I can pm you contact details and you could see if you could speak to them?

I don't understand the part about whether an outdoor play area/space restricts children's learning and development.

Why would anyone think that?

I think ideally a good play space has some wilder areas for dens and hide and seek,and looking at nature.For exploration as well as play and physical challenge.

I really believe that outdoor learning helps support all development.

It's energising and grounding.
It's food for the soul.It builds resilience and an understanding of self.

And of course there are health benefits that can surely only help a childs ability to learn,relax,focus and enjoy.

I would also narrow down the question.. Maybe focus on your last point about children's holistic development. Something like 'how can a good quality outside play space promote/ support children's holistic development. Then in your literature review you could define and research what makes a 'quality' outside space (malleable materials, uneven surface, spaces to hide, be creative etc).

I would use triangulation for methodology, for example:

• observations of children in one or two outdoor settings
• interview with staff members of early years setting

-child mapping (look at perspective of voice of the child). Could even include children's comments but not sure on your word count.

I finished my degree in ecs about 6 yrs ago, my focus at work is forest school so let me know if u have any more questions.

Good luck!!