Opening up the outdoors: Exploring the relationship between the indoor and outdoor environments of a centre

Abstract

SUMMARY Young children's enthusiasm for outdoor play is widely recognised, but the factors that contribute to it are less well understood. In order to open up new perspectives in this area, a broad, multi-dimensional approach was chosen, and ethnographic methods were used to study outdoor play in a single New Zealand childcare centre setting. This paper describes four broad dimensions of difference that were identified in exploring the relationship between the outdoor and indoor playspaces, and the play that occurred there.