From experience of working in a rural primary school for 7 years, despite an extensive green play field and its own wooded area, children were still not allowed to play on the grass after rainfall. The top 2 reasons for this seemed to be because it became a slip risk to the children, and because the grass would get churned up in it's damp state. As you've already said though, the tarmac area then became crowded due to a reduction in space avaliable and in itself then becomes dangerous. As a rural school, the children were exceptionally lucky, but city schools don't always have the same benefits. A friend of mine who works as a nursery teacher in a large town only has a tarmac area available for the young children. Her approach was to grow grass seed in tough trays for the little ones to sit and play on, as well as have tough trays with bark, sand and soil for them to explore through sensory play. 🌱
Fundraising and grants are always the best approach to tackling improvements in outdoor spaces at schools, but it requires active parents and staff that are willing to put the time and grit into it.
Thank you so much for reading, Jess. Everything you’ve described sounds, sadly, very familiar to me from all of those primary school teachers I worked with. Thanks for sharing your experiences. It’s so complicated, but something must be done!
An observation that truly matters! I feel so sad to think about those children who aren’t allowed to walk barefoot.
I’d like to share how this issue is approached in Finland, where I live. Every child has a subjective right to early childhood education (daycare). Daycare yards are not asphalt, but instead consist of sand, grass, plantings, trees, tree stumps and rocks. Even a decaying tree trunk has been left on the playground to bring more biodiversity. Children get to go nearby forest to play at least once a week. They are allowed to climb, run, lay in mud pudde and so on.
School yards are maybe bit more asfalt, but there is are no rules against taking shoes off or playing in grassy or foresty areas, no matter weather (at least in my kids school, first grade). Once a week they they have scheduled three hours of ’FOREST’ in their timetable, and most of that time is for playing. These things are becoming more and more common. 🌱💚
Thank you for sharing! It sounds heavenly in Finland! It really sounds like you're doing it right. Something for the rest of us to aim for, definitely 💚
100% with you on this. I feel as though part of it stems from this absurd attitude that has become so normalised - that our gardens and green spaces have to be neat and 'well maintained'. I find it mindblowing and saddening that schools are depriving children of connection with nature; to feel the grass under their bare feet because they want to keep the grass neat. We need natural spaces where they can get muddy, where the grass can be uneven. It's completely backwards.
I agree! Thank you for reading and for taking the time to share your thoughts. It’s an attitude that just isn’t questioned but is so quietly damaging, storing up problems for the future.
Hello! My friend Haruka pointed me in your direction because she said we were coming at the same topics from different angles. :) So much to think about in this post.
We spent 18 months living in traditional communities in South America and Africa with our three young children. The older two went to 8 different schools when we were away. On my six-year-old's first day at a UK school, he was chased by another child, felt scared, and climbed a tree to escape. To his enormous surprise, he got in trouble. I can totally understand how our litigious society means that schools have to protect themselves, but we typically protect one child from harm at the risk of depriving thousands of children the inputs they need for healthy bodies.
Ah hello! Thank you for reading and for sharing your fantastic piece! What a syptomatic and sad story about your son climbing the tree for safety at school here in the UK. That really epitomises it, doesn't it? Thank you for sharing, glad to have found yours too!
From experience of working in a rural primary school for 7 years, despite an extensive green play field and its own wooded area, children were still not allowed to play on the grass after rainfall. The top 2 reasons for this seemed to be because it became a slip risk to the children, and because the grass would get churned up in it's damp state. As you've already said though, the tarmac area then became crowded due to a reduction in space avaliable and in itself then becomes dangerous. As a rural school, the children were exceptionally lucky, but city schools don't always have the same benefits. A friend of mine who works as a nursery teacher in a large town only has a tarmac area available for the young children. Her approach was to grow grass seed in tough trays for the little ones to sit and play on, as well as have tough trays with bark, sand and soil for them to explore through sensory play. 🌱
Fundraising and grants are always the best approach to tackling improvements in outdoor spaces at schools, but it requires active parents and staff that are willing to put the time and grit into it.
Fantastic article as always! 💚
Thank you so much for reading, Jess. Everything you’ve described sounds, sadly, very familiar to me from all of those primary school teachers I worked with. Thanks for sharing your experiences. It’s so complicated, but something must be done!
An observation that truly matters! I feel so sad to think about those children who aren’t allowed to walk barefoot.
I’d like to share how this issue is approached in Finland, where I live. Every child has a subjective right to early childhood education (daycare). Daycare yards are not asphalt, but instead consist of sand, grass, plantings, trees, tree stumps and rocks. Even a decaying tree trunk has been left on the playground to bring more biodiversity. Children get to go nearby forest to play at least once a week. They are allowed to climb, run, lay in mud pudde and so on.
School yards are maybe bit more asfalt, but there is are no rules against taking shoes off or playing in grassy or foresty areas, no matter weather (at least in my kids school, first grade). Once a week they they have scheduled three hours of ’FOREST’ in their timetable, and most of that time is for playing. These things are becoming more and more common. 🌱💚
Thank you for sharing! It sounds heavenly in Finland! It really sounds like you're doing it right. Something for the rest of us to aim for, definitely 💚
100% with you on this. I feel as though part of it stems from this absurd attitude that has become so normalised - that our gardens and green spaces have to be neat and 'well maintained'. I find it mindblowing and saddening that schools are depriving children of connection with nature; to feel the grass under their bare feet because they want to keep the grass neat. We need natural spaces where they can get muddy, where the grass can be uneven. It's completely backwards.
I agree! Thank you for reading and for taking the time to share your thoughts. It’s an attitude that just isn’t questioned but is so quietly damaging, storing up problems for the future.
Hello! My friend Haruka pointed me in your direction because she said we were coming at the same topics from different angles. :) So much to think about in this post.
We spent 18 months living in traditional communities in South America and Africa with our three young children. The older two went to 8 different schools when we were away. On my six-year-old's first day at a UK school, he was chased by another child, felt scared, and climbed a tree to escape. To his enormous surprise, he got in trouble. I can totally understand how our litigious society means that schools have to protect themselves, but we typically protect one child from harm at the risk of depriving thousands of children the inputs they need for healthy bodies.
I've written about bare feet and children here: https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/why-barefoot-running-isnt-possible?r=4bpym1
I'm really glad I've found your substack!
Ah hello! Thank you for reading and for sharing your fantastic piece! What a syptomatic and sad story about your son climbing the tree for safety at school here in the UK. That really epitomises it, doesn't it? Thank you for sharing, glad to have found yours too!
Whatever benefits modernity offers, this shows how much it isn't worth it.
Indeed. Certainly if we don't continually evaluate what it is about modernity that is serving us and what isn't.