Author: Kiran Philip, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School Lower School Teacher
I write this as both a reflection and a call to attention, carrying the weight of realistic everyday observations from preschool classrooms nowadays.
I see highly bright capable three to five years old children who are shy and cannot advocate for themselves. I see children who enjoy outside activities but their mental energy and window of tolerance, quickly drains during what used to be simple, sustained play: five minutes in sand or water is sometimes all they can manage. Climbing a small hill tires them, bright sunlight or buzzing gnats easily distract them, and transitions outdoors sometimes spark fatigue or withdrawal rather than joy.
When I take my students to the playground, the change of environment refreshes them, brings them joy and excitement. However, after a few minutes some children become tired and their mental energy is exhausted. When a child resists messy play, or becomes tired quickly, several non – exclusive explanations deserve consideration. That’s when I question if a child has reduced outdoor exposures which leads to lack of physical endurance and attentional stamina to sustain it (Hajar et al., 2019).
Researchers have documented a cultural trend toward reduced outdoor time — sometimes called “nature-deficit” — driven by urban living, increased screen time, caregiver concerns about safety, and structured schedules. This shift likely reduces many children’s opportunities to build stamina for messy, unpredictable outdoor play (Warber et al.; Louv., 2015).
These patterns are striking because they clash with my own vivid memories of childhood. Hours of mud-pie making, building kitchens with found materials, and long afternoons biking with my brothers. Those experiences shaped my creativity, resilience, and capacity for self-directed play — qualities I still value and miss seeing as often in today’s young learners. The question is not nostalgia alone: what does the research say about the role of unstructured, sensory-rich outdoor play for child development, and how might we respond when children seem less able to engage in it?
Play is not optional for a young child. It is a fuel for a child’s body and brain (Yogman et al.,2018). Decades of research show that play supports children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development and that time for free play has been reduced for many children (Ginsburg, 2007).
Among all forms of play, unstructured outdoor play uniquely provides sensory experiences that children cannot access indoors. Embracing nature may feel overwhelming, yet it brings meaningful benefits.
The sense of creativity, the vast imagination of designing rivers and canals in sand and water on our playground, not only supports their pre-engineering skills/STEM but also promotes resilience, opportunities to collaborate, experiment, taking risks within safe bounds, and problem solving. Making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for teachers with sand and mulch is a beautiful example of teacher students bonding and relationship. Climbing hills around the school campus and observing flowers and birds’ nests, is how we connect the abstract to the concrete in a Preschoolers brain, gradually shifting the lift and providing autonomy to our young learners. These are the moments that reveal, wonder, magical thinking and sensory based exploration. Of course we understand, for some children, the sensory load outdoors (sunlight, wind, insects, textures) can be aversive and lead to avoidance. These responses are valid and need thoughtful accommodation (Finnigan, K. A., 2024). It is within these moments that we apply universal design principles (CAST, Inc.,n.d.), thus spaces are welcoming to children with sensory differences (Finnigan, 2024). We as Early Childhood practitioners differentiate and individualize each child’s needs. We create and identify Sensory-Responsive Spaces, offering a variety of outdoor micro-environments: shaded nooks by installing a tent over our water and sand play area, calm gravel/sand zones, and quiet corners with natural loose parts or merely by a teacher covering a child’s head with their own scarf. This allows children to self-select the sensory load they can tolerate.
Meta-analyses and reviews have linked nature-based play to gains in executive functions, self-regulation, motor skills, and socio-emotional competence. (Bento et al., 2017; Craig et al., 2024). In 2022, Dr. Yeshe Colliver et al. , an Australian researcher and lecturer at Victoria University, led a Longitudinal Study. The study included a large sample (n-2213) of Australian children and investigated time spent in unstructured indoor and outdoor active play activities for children ages 2–3 and 4–5 years as a predictor of self-regulation abilities 2 years later. Findings indicated that the duration of children’s engagement in unstructured play during the toddler and preschool years was a modest yet significant predictor of self-regulation outcomes assessed two years later, including during the initial years of elementary schooling. This study suggests that more time in unstructured play during early years predicts better self-regulation later on — a core skill for school readiness. Children who had more free play in toddler and preschool years showed stronger behavioral regulation in subsequent years. Loose-play contexts require children to plan, hold multiple steps in mind, and inhibit impulses — all taxing on emergent executive function skills. Less practice with unstructured play may mean weaker executive function stamina(Colliver et al., 2022).
Concerns about safety and cleanliness are real and often motivate limits on free play. Yet a body of evidence suggests that “risky” play (climbing, balancing, managing small risks) supports risk assessment skills and resilience, especially when supervised with appropriate adult presence (Louv; museum interviews). The goal is not reckless exposure but calibrated opportunities that let children test boundaries with adult support.
The difference between a child who can eagerly explore a muddy bank for an hour and one who leaves after five minutes is rarely a single cause. It is a mix of prior opportunities, sensory profile, executive function strength, and adult scaffolding. The good news is that these are malleable. Regular, intentional nature play; sensory-responsive design; short, scaffolded routines; and explicit teaching of social and advocacy language can rebuild stamina, curiosity, and self-advocacy over time.
If we want children who will remember mud pies and long bike rides — and who will develop the creative, regulatory, and social capacities that flow from such experiences — we must treat outdoor play as a curriculum, not as a reward. Begin where your children are: small, frequent windows outside; choices about where to play; and patient scaffolding that honors each child’s thresholds. Over time, many children will surprise you — and themselves — with renewed joy, resilience, and capacity for sustained, messy wonder.
Reference:
- Yogman, M., Garner, A., Hutchinson, J., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2018). The power of play: A pediatric role in enhancing development in young children. Pediatrics, 142(3), e20182058. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2058
- Hajar, M. S., Rizal, H., & Kuan, G. (2019). Effects of physical activity on sustained attention: a systematic review. Scientia Medica , 29 (2), e32864. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-6108.2019.2.32864
- Warber, S. L., et al. (2015). Addressing “Nature-Deficit Disorder”: Benefits of nature exposure and challenges to access. Frontiers in Public Health. PMC
- Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. Pediatrics. PubMed
- Finnigan, K. A. (2024). Sensory Responsive Environments: A Qualitative Study on Perceived Relationships between Outdoor Built Environments and Sensory Sensitivities. Land, 13(5), 636. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13050636
- CAST, Inc. (n.d.). The UDL guidelines. https://udlguidelines.cast.org/
- Bento, G., et al. (2017). The importance of outdoor play for young children’s healthy development: A review. International Journal of Outdoor Learning. PMC
- Craig, D., et al. (2024). Effective nature-based outdoor play and learning. International Journal of Early Childhood. PMC
- Colliver, Y., et al. (2022). Free play predicts self-regulation years later: Longitudinal evidence. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. ScienceDirect
- Battling the Nature Deficit with Nature Play. (2011). In American Journal of Play (Vols. 4–4, Issue 2, pp. 138–139).
