Outdoor Play and Learning

At Lakelands, we are committed to nurturing the whole child—supporting not only academic achievement but also personal development, wellbeing, and creativity. We are excited to share that we have recently embarked on a journey to enhance play across our school through the OPAL (Outdoor Play and Learning) Programme.

This 18–24-month initiative is designed to enrich children’s experiences during playtime, helping to build physical confidence, social skills, resilience, cooperation, imagination and, most importantly, joy. As play makes up around 20% of a child’s time in school (equivalent to 1.4 years of their primary education) we believe it should be the very best it can be.

The OPAL Programme has been developed over 17 years and is now used in hundreds of schools across the UK, as well as internationally in Canada, New Zealand, and parts of Europe. It was recognised in 2018 with a prestigious EU award for being the best active schools programme in Europe.

We look forward to sharing updates with you as the programme develops—watch this space!

One reason we are carrying out this programme is that childhood has changed and many children no longer get their play need met out of school.

  • Average screen time per day 5 hours
  • Average outdoor play time per week 5 hours
  • Percentage of UK children who only play outdoor with other children at school 56%

There are many proven benefits for schools which carry out the OPAL Programme. They usually include: more enjoyment of school, less teaching time lost to disputes between children, less accidents and greatly improved behaviour.

1. Children learn through their play.

Don’t underestimate the value of play. Children learn and develop:

  • cognitive skills – like math and problem solving in a pretend grocery store
  • physical abilities – like balancing blocks and running on the playground
  • new vocabulary – like the words they need to play with toy dinosaurs
  • social skills – like playing together in a pretend car wash
  • literacy skills – like creating a menu for a pretend restaurant

 

2. Play is healthy.

Play helps children grow strong and healthy. It also counteracts obesity issues facing many children today.

 

3. Play reduces stress.

Play helps your children grow emotionally. It is joyful and provides an outlet for anxiety and stress.

 

4. Play is more than meets the eye.

Play is simple and complex.  There are many types of play: symbolic, sociodramatic, functional, and games with rules-–to name just a few. Researchers study play’s many aspects:  how children learn through play, how outdoor play impacts children’s health, the effects of screen time on play, to the need for recess in the school day.

 

5. Make time for play.

As parents, you are the biggest supporters of your children’s learning. You can make sure they have as much time to play as possible during the day to promote cognitive, language, physical, social, and emotional development.

 

6. Play and learning go hand-in-hand.

They are not separate activities. They are intertwined. Think about them as a science lecture with a lab. Play is the child’s lab.

 

7. Play is a child’s context for learning.

Children practice and reinforce their learning in multiple areas during play. It gives them a place and a time for learning that cannot be achieved through completing a worksheet. For example, in playing restaurant, children write and draw menus, set prices and take orders.  Play provides rich learning opportunities and leads to children’s success and self-esteem.

Play is the process evolution has come up with to enable children to learn all of the things that cannot be taught, while also feeling like it is fun. There are certain things children must have in order to be able to play. These include:

  • Having clothes that you can play in
  • Having things to play with
  • Having a certain amount of freedom

As the school improves play opportunities for your children, you may find the school is asking you for resources and is making changes about how the children use the school grounds. They may use more of the grounds, for more of the year. Your children may get a bit messier, be exposed to more challenges and have greater freedoms to play where, with whom and how they like. The experiences the school is fostering are essential for children’s physical and mental well-being and healthy and in line with all current good practice advice on health safety, well-being and development.

You will be able to learn all about OPAL and watch several videos about the programme on the OPAL website: www.outdoorplayandleaning.org.uk.