Imagine a school where children are allowed to climb trees and scale walls in the school grounds and then speed down the hill on scooters. Well, that’s exactly what’s happening at Slane National School, Co Meath, where teachers Ruth Collins and Lorna Murphy have introduced adventurous play into the school day for all pupils.

“We started by bringing small groups of young infants to forage for plants and pick leaves in the fall, and later developed an outdoor play area with a mud kitchen, sand pit, wigwam and a grass tunnel above to roll. ,” says Collins.

Once the birch trees on the school grounds became strong enough to support the children’s weight, the teachers allowed them to climb the trees during play.

“Everything has been in a very controlled way, but there have been fewer accidents since we started,” says Murphy.

As part of the trial, teachers asked schoolchildren what additional equipment they would like in the playground.

“We got all kinds of suggestions, like a pool with water slides,” says Collins. “But most of them wanted a treehouse on stilts with a fireman’s pole, a ladder and a climbing wall, which was then funded by the parents’ association.”

While one or two parents questioned the wisdom of such outdoor games, teachers at Slane National School were widely supported by their headteacher and the wider school community.

“Parents actually tell us they hear more about what’s going on at school because the kids are outside,” Murphy says. “They are so engaged in their outdoor activities that there are no behavioral problems when they return indoors.”

Outdoor activities are either linked to the school curriculum, led by teachers, or involve child-led play, where children learn to negotiate the space they share with others.

At Slane National School, junior and senior infants have wetsuits and wellington boots as part of their all-weather outdoor play uniform.

Collins and Murphy are part of a small group of teachers who introduce children to outdoor activities that give them experiences of height, speed and the use of so-called dangerous tools.

The new primary school curriculum encourages playful experiences – both teacher-led outdoor play and child-led play – for all primary school students.

Rachel Rafferty – on a career break in New Zealand – has taught third form boys at Scoil Phádraig Cúil an tSúdaire in Portarlington, Co Laois, from 2018 to 2022.

“This was my first job after my undergraduate degree … and I noticed that the kids weren’t really engaged with the environment, despite being within walking distance of the forest,” says Rafferty.

So he started bringing the boys for “themed learning sessions” in the local forest. “Some of them were worried at first because of the lack of exposure to the outdoors, but after a few weeks it became a normal learning environment,” she says.

Thematic learning is an approach that combines different subjects – such as science, art, literacy and mathematics – into a holistic learning experience.

Rafferty quickly began to realize that children who rarely raised their hands in class or struggled to make eye contact became the most engaged in the outdoor environment.

“They came running to me with questions,” she says.

( “How do we grow if we don’t take risks?”: Letting kids take risks is terrifying but beneficialOpens in a new window )

Rafferty went on to do an MA in Outdoor Learning at DCU where she developed the links between learner identity skills (choice, teamwork, leadership, reflection and so on) and outdoor learning.

“I would always design my lessons so that children can develop these skills,” she says. “So, for example, we studied Stone Age tools and the kids were put into groups to make tools from what was on the forest floor, each with a different role as manager, designer, builder.”

Dr. Orla Kelly, associate professor of social, environmental and science education at DCU’s institute of education, would like to see outdoor adventure games for children integrated into teacher training programmes.

“Giving children opportunities to be in situations where they have to navigate and assess risks helps them build resilience and self-confidence,” she says. “These are challenging forms of play that are exciting but can also make them a bit nervous, so it’s important to engage with children where they are.”

She says that as a society we have become more risk averse and children often don’t have the same access to adventurous or risky play as previous generations.

“So it’s important that schools integrate it with resources, materials and guidance for teachers,” says Kelly.

She admits that some teachers can be a little reluctant to do this. “Most primary school teachers have no experience of this type of adventurous/risky play as it is only a small part – if any – of their initial teacher training and they are unlikely to see it in placement either,” says it. “So they may not have the competence and confidence to adopt it.”

Parents can be worried too. “Some people think a little bit is fine, as long as it doesn’t take away from the kids’ learning,” says Kelly. “There is still a feeling that play is not real learning. Other parents think it’s fine as long as it’s not too wet or too cold outside.”

Tomas Aylward, lecturer in outdoor education at Munster University of Technology, is a strong advocate of outdoor learning and adventurous play for all children, especially those with physical disabilities who, he says, are “often wrapped in cotton wool for that the ethic of care is greater. than educational ethics”.

“Risk play is very important to society and there are consequences if we don’t have it,” says Aylward. “I experience this in 18-19-year-olds from university who have not had risky experiences as children. Then they engage in risky activities – drugs, alcohol, sex and anti-social behavior – without filters. And we end up with less capable young citizens.”

He recounts an outdoor learning experience with five-year-olds at Ardfert National School in Co Kerry as an example of teacher-led learning.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, the classic children’s picture book, is the story of a family outing where everyone must navigate their way through a field, a river, a muddy swamp, a snowstorm, and more away, repeating bravely. “we are not afraid” before approaching each obstacle.

Aylward says the children interpreted the book with wood, grass, a cave and a tarp as a river as a way of teaching “prepositional language”.

“The children embodied the experience and became more self-directed, focused and engaged in their learning through these activities,” he says. “Parents who isolate their children from risky activities prevent them from making small micro-decisions about risk-taking. There is a dignity that comes with taking risks.”

He refers teachers to the book, Adventurous Learning: A Pedagogy for a Changing World by Mike Brown and Simon Beames, which explores how authenticity (something real that children can interact with), mastery (how they can improve their skills), agency (with self-directed choices) and uncertainty must be incorporated.

“Uncertainty is the catalyst and the key to not being 100 percent sure that what’s going to happen is good for human beings,” says Alyward. “The challenge now is that children’s lives are so involved with screens that we need to help them find other connections to place – in school or in their local communities.

“For example, scrubbing old tombstones to find when people died and researching those names or connecting with what’s on their local beach. Start local and help them feel a connection to their locality and bring that into outdoor learning and risky play.”