Outdoor Learning Part 1: An Overview

This multi-part series of blog posts on Outdoor Learning has been adapted from a Final Academic Paper for one of my Early Childhood Development courses at the University of Winnipeg.

Children deserve learning opportunities that consider their overall wellbeing. J.P. Miller, a scholar of holistic education, observes that educators can best support children’s learning by understanding the child as an “indivisible whole”. This means ensuring that any educational approach supports all domains of a child’s development, including “social, emotional, intellectual, psychological, physical and spiritual” (Jagger, p. 48).

Looking to Indigenous Ways of Knowing, M’Lot & Ferguson make a connection between holistic education and outdoor learning, stating “land-based learning is holistic and engages multiple aspects of ourselves” (p. 9).

At Riverview Ashland Daycare Centre, we believe that in order to support children’s wellbeing and meet the full-range of their developmental needs, outdoor learning must be incorporated into children’s educational experiences.

Forest Schools and Land-Based Learning

Most scholars credit Nordic countries for popularizing the Forest School methodology in the 1950s, which focuses on outdoor nature-based learning for children. However, Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island and beyond have been learning from and with the land since time immemorial.

“Indigenous education was not segregated from daily [outdoor] activities… Opportunities for learning flowed with the rhythms of daily life and the needs of the land, family and community” (Bowra, et al., p. 133).

M’Lot & Ferguson encourage educators to consider how to acknowledge that land education is not new, while recognizing the need for “renewing our practices and priorities in relation to land-based education” (p. 4).

As Indigenous Peoples continue fighting to promote and maintain land-based learning, there is growing recognition among non-Indigenous peoples of the positive impact nature-based learning has on children. In the 1960s, Germany recognized forest kindergartens as a form of child care and in the early 1990s, the forest school method spread to the United Kingdom. Forest schools operate successfully in many countries as an alternative to education that takes place in the confines of a classroom setting.

In Canada, there were nearly 200 Outdoor Early Childhood Education (ECE) Programs operating as of May 2024. Most nature-based early childhood education in Canada is referred to as Forest School or Nature School. This is distinct from outdoor education, in that these Forest and Nature Schools (FNS) are typically offered as full or part-time programs with “regular and repeated access to the same natural space, as well as emergent, experiential, inquiry-based, play-based, and place-based learning” (Forest School Canada).

Pedagogy of Forest and Nature Schools

FNS educators work to create a child-led learning environment, with an emphasis on “children’s personal, social, and emotional development” over national curriculum goals. In one study, “forest school practitioners acknowledged that it was possible to teach many parts of the national curriculum while at forest school” however, “national curriculum topics… were not explicitly pursued” (Harris, p. 7). One of the principles that most FNS adopt is “to promote the holistic development of all [children] involved making them resilient, independent, and creative” (Karavida, et al., p. 117).

Aligned with J.P. Miller’s definition of holistic education, the focus of FNS is meeting children where they are at and developing personal learning goals at a pace that works best for them.

“Children [at Forest School] follow their passions through inquiry-based learning and a love of learning blooms” (Boileau & Dabaja, p. 234).

Most FNS educators understand their role as collaborators, facilitators, and co-learners in a child’s learning process, helping to guide the play with skilled, meaningful, and thoughtful interventions. This approach reflects recommendations for educators to seek a middle continuum of play that includes child-directed play, collaborative types of play, and teacher-directed play in an effort to move away from the idea that a single pedagogical approach will always be the most “appropriate” response when supporting children’s development.

To support the goals and pedagogy of FNS, it is expected that FNS uses enhanced ratios of educators to children, giving educators more opportunity to learn about and support individual children’s skills and interests. Educators focus heavily on developing strong relationships with each child as well as with the natural environment they play and learn in.

In a study by Harris, one of “the most common forms of learning mentioned by [forest school] practitioners were development of relationships with others, and relationships with nature/the forest site” (p. 7). Indigenous Ways of Knowing also reflect this, as “relationships themselves are a common focal point of land‐based learning” (Bowra, et al., p. 136). Bowra et al. further asserts that being on the land not only facilitates relationships between peoples, family, community and all living things, but necessitates them.

Sources:

Abdelnour, E. et al. (2022), ADHD Diagnostic Trends: Increased Recognition or Overdiagnosis?, Science of Medicine, 119(5), 467-473. 

Blenkinsop, S. et al. (2016). A surprising discovery: five pedagogical skills outdoor and experiential educators might offer more mainstream educators in this time of change, Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 16(4), 346-358. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2016.1163272. 

Boileau, E. & Dabaja, Z. (July 2020). Forest School practice in Canada: a survey study, Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 23, 225-240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-020-00057-4. 

Bowra, A. et al. (2020). Indigenous learning on Turtle Island: A review of the literature on land-based learning, The Canadian Geographer, 65(2), 132-140. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12659. 

Fjørtoft, I. (2001). The Natural Environment as a Playground for Children: The Impact of Outdoor Play Activities in Pre-Primary School Children, Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2), 111-117. 

Forest School Canada. (June, 2014). Forest and Nature School in Canada: A Head, Heart, Hands Approach to Outdoor Learning. https://assets.ctfassets.net/e09p19lzfrfe/5RyDjPIySeoIFEJIpdzrdQ/c5933ef778e930792a3e80792d841457/FSC-Guide_web.pdf. 

Harris, F. (August, 2025). Journeys through forest school: a model for understanding diverse educational experiences of children, Environmental Education Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2025.2529544. 

Jagger, S. (Ed.). (2025). Early years education and care in Canada: Engaging with the past,

the present, and future possibilities (2nd ed.). Canadian Scholars.

Karavida, V. et al. (December, 2020), Forest Schools: An Alternative Learning Approach at the Preschool Age, Journal of Education & Social Policy, 7(4), 116-120. http://dx.doi.org/10.30845/jesp.v7n4p12. 

MacEachren, Z. (2013). The Canadian Forest School Movement, LEARNing Landscapes, 7(1), 219-233. 

McCree, M. et al. (2018). The Hare and the Tortoise go to Forest School: taking the scenic route to academic attainment via emotional wellbeing outdoors, Early Child Development and Care, 188(7), 980-996. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2018.1446430. 

M’Lot, C & Ferguson, K. (Eds.) (2025). Renewal: Indigenous Perspectives on Land-Based Education In and Beyond the Classroom. Portage & Main Press.

Outdoor Play Canada. (May, 2024). Appendix C - Outdoor ECE Database. https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/portfolio_page/outdoor-ece-database/. 

Parsons, K.J. & Traunter, J. (2020). Muddy knees and muddy needs: parents perceptions of outdoor learning, Children’s Geographies, 18(6), 699-711, https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2019.1694637. 

Sella, E. et al. (March, 2023). Psychological Benefits of Attending Forest School for Preschool Children: a Systematic Review, Educational Psychology Review, 35(29). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09750-4. 

Van Schijndel, T. & Jansen, B. (2025). Integrating lines of research on children’s curiosity-driven learning, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 252.