Manchester children kick off new 1,000 hours of outdoor learning challenge
Children of Manchester have been challenged by Kids Planet Day Nurseries, as part of a new campaign, to complete 1,000 hours of outdoor learning by the time they start school.
The initiative, 1,000 Little Adventures, will see every child at a Kids Planet setting completing tasks and activities both at nursery and at home to encourage time outside, away from screens.
Inspired by outdoor advocate Ginny Yurich, the initiative aims to encourage children to spend more time outside exploring, learning and connecting with the natural world during their crucial early years.
The launch comes as Kids Planet’s Outdoor Learning Report, highlights growing concern around children’s connection with the outdoors. The research found only a fifth (20%) of children in the city get outdoors every day, despite more than half (53%) of parents saying time outdoors is extremely important for their child’s development.
As part of the campaign every child across Kids Planet’s 300+ settings will receive a personalised adventure passport designed to track their progress towards the 1,000-hour milestone which equates to over 41 days. Activities that can be logged include butterfly counting, mud pie making, plant identification, nature walks, puddle jumping and so much more.
Many Kids Planet settings are Udeskole accredited, with curriculum at the nurseries designed around an outdoor-first approach. Udeskole is a Scandinavian concept that takes learning into nature with compulsory educational activities and requires children to spend time outdoors regularly. At Kids Planet, children spend time outdoors every day in all settings.
Nurseries have also been given dedicated progress charts to celebrate and monitor collective achievements throughout the campaign.
Celebrating the launch, Rhiannon Mountain, head of outdoor learning at Kids Planet commented: “Outdoor learning gives children the freedom to explore, problem-solve and build confidence in ways that simply can’t be replicated indoors. Through our 1,000 Little Adventures campaign, we want to inspire families and educators to embrace the outdoors as an essential part of childhood.
“Every muddy puddle, woodland walk and bug hunt becomes an opportunity for discovery, imagination and growth. Learning from what goes on around us is such a vital part of early years education and something we’re passionate about at all of our nurseries. We’re incredibly proud to be making this commitment to children across all of our settings.
Often the things we enjoyed as children are the same things children today love doing. The outdoor team can’t wait to see everyone’s adventures!”
The 1,000 Little Adventures campaign reflects Kids Planet’s continued commitment to delivering enriching, child-led experiences that support school readiness, wellbeing and a lifelong love of learning.