educators

Outdoor Learning

Early Years Development Framework
Nurturing Early Learners Framework
"Grow Me" Resources
Outdoor Learning
You are now reading:
Outdoor Learning
You are now reading: Outdoor Learning

The Outdoors: Our Classroom, Our Playground

​Outdoor learning brings many benefits for our children.

  • Better Learners. In the outdoors, our children can learn more deeply with their five senses and we can offer more creative ways for learning. Being outdoors also helps children improve their focus to learn better.
  • Happier and Healthier Children. Being outdoors gives children more opportunities to be physically active, improves their motor skills, strengthens their immune system and reduces risk of myopia. The outdoors is fun yet calming and makes our children happier.

  • Closer to the Community. With outdoor learning, children learn in a real world context and develop a variety of skills that prepare them not only for the classroom, but also for life. Being outdoors regularly in both urban and natural settings helps children become more connected to the environment and community around them.

    Our goal is for outdoor learning to be possible for every child, everywhere, every day. As educators, you play a vital role in providing opportunities for children to learn in, about, and through the outdoors.

    As a start, we have worked with partners to put together two sets of resources to help educators facilitate outdoor learning for children. 

  • Outdoor Learning: A National Guide for Early Childhood Educators provides you with guiding principles, key ideas and practical suggestions to enhance children’s learning and development in the outdoors.

  • Outdoor Learning Experiences is a repository of good outdoor learning practices, put together by professionals in the sector. This can help you add outdoor learning activities to your lesson plans.

    We hope that the Guide and Learning Experiences will help educators and preschools embed outdoor learning in your curricula and programmes. I encourage all of you to make use of these resources in your journey to create rich outdoor learning for all our children!

    Ms Jamie Ang
    Chief Executive Officer
    Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)

Please click on the image below to download a copy of the infographic.​

Please click on the links below to access the Guide and Learning Experiences.

A National Guide for Early Childhood Educators
  1. Bubbles Delight!
  2. Collecting Fallen Leaves, Twigs and Flowers
  3. Community Helpers- Pet Shop Owner
  4. Drumming- Exploration of Rhythm and Resonance Through Interaction with Objects in the Environment
  5. Exploration of Shapes and Colours
  6. Exploring Gravity and Speed
  7. I Can Feel with My Hands
  8. I Can Listen with My Ears
  9. I Can Paint with My Hands
  10. Music Makes Collecting Nature Items for Use in Shakers
  11. Nature Shakers
  12. Painting with Spray Bottles
  13. Painting with Water
  14. Playing Games in the Outdoors
  15. Sensory Integration- I Can Feel with My Hands and Feet
  16. Sorting of Nature Items
  17. Coloured Bottles
  18. Counting 1 to 3
  19. Feel, Touch and Listen!
  20. Forming 1, 2 & 3
  21. I Know My Friends’ Names
  22. Move it, Move it!
  23. This is the Way We Do It!
  24. Touch, Feel and Listen (Part 1)
  25. Touch, Feel and Listen (Part 2)
  26. Treasure Hunt!
  27. A Cozy Picnic
  28. Exploring Colours on Cloth
  29. Follow the Traffic Light!
  30. Fun with Spray Painting!
  31. Gets the Balls Inside!
  32. Myriad of Colours
  33. Natural Sights and Sounds
  34. Sensory Walk
  35. Shapes in the Environment
  36. Stone Hunting and Painting
  37. Walk a Crooked Line
  1. Bubbles Delight!
  2. Community Helpers- Pet Shop Owner
  3. Digging and Hiding
  4. Exploration of Shapes and Colours- Walk through the Tunnel
  5. Exploration of Transformation of Matter through the Use of Ice
  6. Exploring Body and Spatial Awareness
  7. Exploring Textures on Feet
  8. Find My Shoes
  9. I Can Hear Sounds in My Neighbourhood
  10. Matching Textures in Nature
  11. Music Makes Collecting Nature Items for Use in Shakers
  12. Nature Frame Finding Objects in Nature
  13. Nature Noises
  14. Painting with Spray Bottles
  15. Painting with Water
  16. Pebble Hunt
  17. Playing Games in the Outdoors (Parent Child Activity)
  18. Sorting of Nature Items
  19. Using Nature Items to Form Letters of Their Names
  20. Counting 1 to 3
  21. Counting at the Playground
  22. Feel, Touch and Listen!
  23. Forming 1, 2 & 3
  24. I Know My Friends’ Names
  25. Move and Freeze in the Outdoors
  26. Move it, Move it!
  27. This is the Way We Do It!
  28. Treasure Hunt!
  29. A Cozy Picnic
  30. Follow the Traffic Light!
  31. Fun with Spray Painting!
  32. I know My Neighbourhood
  33. Myriad of Colours
  34. Outdoor Alphabet Match
  35. Sensory Walk
  36. Stepping on Grass
  37. Stone Hunting and Painting
  38. Throw Ball Painting
  39. Walk a Crooked Line
  40. We are going on a Bear Hunt (Dramatisation)
  1. Animals, Insects in My Garden
  2. Community Art Fiesta
  3. Dancing Bags
  4. Giving Smiles to People
  5. Keeping Our Neighbourhood Clean
  6. Rain Walk
  7. Shapes Around My Neighbourhood
  8. Treasure Baskets
  9. Whirling Sunny Shadows
  10. 2-Object Patterning
  11. Counting at the Playground
  12. Insect Hunt!
  13. Lines, Lines Everywhere!
  14. Love Our Neighbourhood
  15. Move and Freeze in the Outdoors
  16. Police and Thief Game
  17. Scavenger Hunt
  18. Shape Scavenger Hunt in the Neighbourhood
  19. Shh! We have a plan
  20. Star Anise
  21. Working Together with My Friends
  22. Balance, Twist, Turn and Stretch
  23. Exploring Clouds
  24. Flowers and Leaves
  25. I know My Neighbourhood
  26. Leafy Fireworks
  27. Nature Mandalas
  28. One More, One Less
  29. Outdoor Alphabet Match
  30. Painting against a Tree
  31. Passing an Object with your Foot
  32. Point, Step and Throw
  33. Running on Leaves
  34. Scarf Fun (Tossing & Catching)
  35. We are going on a Bear Hunt (Dramatisation)
  36. What are the Creepy Crawlies in the Inquiry Well?
  1. Cloud Watching
  2. Community Art Fiesta
  3. Elves Garden
  4. Exploring Leaves Part 1 (Measuring, Comparing, Sorting)
  5. Exploring Leaves Part 2 (Sequencing and/or Patterning)
  6. Giving Smiles to People
  7. Keeping Our Neighbourhood Clean
  8. Longer, Wider, Bigger and Smaller
  9. Neighbourhood Walk
  10. Objects Move Differently
  11. Outdoor Board Game
  12. Puppeteers Gala
  13. Rain Walk
  14. Rock Mazes
  15. Tree Dressing
  16. Whirling Sunny Shadows
  17. Wind Walk
  18. 3-Object Patterning
  19. Going on a Leaf Hunt
  20. Insect Hunt!
  21. Lines, Lines Everywhere!
  22. Love Our Neighbourhood
  23. Police and Thief Game
  24. Shh! We have a plan
  25. Star Anise
  26. Balance, Twist, Turn and Stretch
  27. Bucket Toss Golf
  28. Butterflies in our Environment
  29. Fun with Collage using Natural Loose Materials
  30. I Spy with My Little Eye Many Letters in the Alphabets
  31. Leafy Fireworks
  32. Nature Mandalas
  33. One More, One Less
  34. Painting against a Tree
  35. Painting on Walls
  36. Passing an Object with your Foot
  37. Point, Step and Throw
  38. Running on Leaves
  39. Texture Walk
  40. We are going on a Bear Hunt
  1. Cloud Watching
  2. Community Art Fiesta
  3. Elves Garden
  4. Exploring Leaves Part 1 (Measuring, Comparing, Sorting)
  5. Exploring Leaves Part 2 (Sequencing and/or Patterning)
  6. Exploring Symmetry in Nature
  7. Habitats
  8. How Objects Move
  9. Lets’ Build an Insect
  10. Longer, Wider, Bigger and Smaller
  11. Neighbourhood Walk
  12. Puppeteers Gala
  13. Rain Walk
  14. Rock Mazes
  15. Silly Stew!
  16. Storytelling on the Move
  17. Take a Closer Look at a Tree!
  18. Texture Walk How Do Things Feel
  19. Tree Dressing
  20. Whirling Sunny Shadows
  21. Wind Walk
  22. Going on a Leaf Hunt
  23. Insect Hunt!
  24. Lines, Lines Everywhere!
  25. Love Our Neighbourhood
  26. Police and Thief Game
  27. Star Anise
  28. Balance, Twist, Turn and Stretch
  29. Butterflies in our Environment
  30. Fun with Collage using Natural Loose Materials
  31. How Big is My Trunk
  32. I Spy with My Little Eye Many Letters in the Alphabets
  33. Leafy Fireworks
  34. Letterbox, Letterbox
  35. Mosquito Hunting
  36. Passing an Object with your Foot
  37. Point, Step and Throw
  38. Running on Leaves
  39. Texture Walk
  40. Tic Tac Toss
  41. Water is Precious
  42. We are going on a Bear Hunt

Outdoor Learning Training of Trainers (ToT) Programme and Educator Training Workshops

ECDA has engaged Dr Helen Little from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia to deliver a Training of Trainers (ToT) programme to strengthen the outdoor learning content and pedagogical skills of local early childhood trainers. As part of the programme, our local trainers have developed and conducted a series of Outdoor Learning pilot training workshops catering to educators working with different age groups of preschool children.

This video clip provides a brief overview of the ToT Programme, pilot workshops and features the voices of educators and trainers who have attended the programme. Learn how you can plan meaningful outdoor play for preschoolers and help our little ones develop holistically. Register for the Outdoor Learning Series via ONE@ECDA!


Useful Websites and Resources

Active Bodies Active Minds - Beanstalk Issue 24

Read about how exercise and sports boost children’s brain function and mental well-being.

NEL Portal - Activity Ideas​

Keen to design learning activities with a distinctive Singapore flavour? Click on Resources and Activity Ideas for lesson ideas under each language.

Early Years Development Framework

Refer to the principles and learning outcomes within the Early Years Development Framework (EYDF) when planning outdoor activities for children. ​​

National Parks Board

Check out the information on different parks, community gardens and plants in Singapore. Alternatively, use NParks Mobile Applications​- BALIKSG, Coast-to-Coast Trail, SGBioAtlas to access information on-the-go.

ActiveSG

Access this website for children’s fitness programmes, articles on workouts and nutrition etc, and a list of sports facilities across Singapore.

Health Promotion Board

Learn about health promoting programmes in preschools and health tips for a healthier living. ​​