Download PDF - Fair Play For Children

55.
In addition to the above policy, guidance and play space provision the FC have been promoting
play through den building events, play days and through its active woods programme
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6ACE8M.
Play and the natural environment
56.
There is now a body of evidence which shows the benefits of play in the natural environment:
•l contact with the natural environment promotes imaginative and social play;
•l playing in a natural environment improves children’s social, mental and physical
development, with some evidence of less bullying behaviour and better concentration at
school 41 ;
•l children use the natural environment to recover from stress and this helps to reduce mental
health disorders 42 ;
•l children are more likely to maintain high levels of physical activity when they play
outdoors 43 ; and
•l playing in the natural environment provides opportunities for young people to experience,
assess and cope with modest risks (eg deciding whether to jump over a stream) and so helps
counter the play limiting effects of a risk averse culture 44 .
57.
Natural England’s aim is that every child in England should have the opportunity to enjoy and
experience the local natural environment to benefit their mental and physical health as well as
their social development. Action includes:
•l making more and regular use of the outdoor natural environment within play, sport and
Surestart programmes;
•l expanding programmes such as forest schools where the outdoors becomes the classroom
(and providing relevant skills for teachers via changes to the curriculum for teacher training);
•l greening of school grounds to include natural features;
•l more nature-based play opportunities provided in green spaces, with less dependence on
expensive factory made play equipment and more emphasis on low-cost natural features
such as slopes, trees and water games and activities;
•l better networks of green routes and places for everyone to use which in turn provide safer
places for young people to play;
•l planners requiring high quality, informal, small scale natural play areas in new residential
developments which are well designed to encourage safe and regular use; and
41 Fjortoft, I & Sageie, J 2000. The natural environment as a playground for children. Landscape and Urban Planning Vol 48, 83-97.
42 Wells NM, Evans GW; Nearby Nature; A buffer of life stress among Rural Children. Environment and Behaviour, vol.35, No 3 311-330 2003.
43 Baranowski T, Thompson WO, DuRant RH, et al. (1993) Observations on physical activity in physical locations: age, gender, ethnicity, and month
effects. Res Q Exerc Sport; 64:127-33
44 The Gulbenkian Foundation
72 Fair Play: A consultation on the play strategy