Views from inside the shed: young children's perspectives of the outdoor environment

Abstract

This article examines messages from participatory research about young children's perspectives of early childhood environments and outdoor spaces in particular. The studies chosen have been carried out in England with children under six years old using the Mosaic approach and are compared with findings from an Icelandic study using the same methodology. This framework for listening to children and adults brings together visual and verbal tools to gather children's perspectives and to facilitate exchange with adults. The findings reinforce the importance of private spaces, personal spaces, social spaces and imaginary spaces in outdoor environments for young children. The discussion considers the implications of these findings for creating and supporting creative outdoor spaces.