Children development and outdoor education during the Covid-19 pandemic: An evaluation of the RioNi project
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Abstract
The current work describes the project «The indispensable closeness: Reorganizing nursery schools safely (RioNi)», which aimed at creating a prototype of activities inspired by the principles of the outdoor education to be implemented in nursery schools during the Covid-19 pandemic. The contribution also shows preliminary results about the effects of such activities on children’s cognitive and socio-emotional development. In general, an increase in social competences and cognitive abilities among children involved in outdoor initiatives has been observed. Considering these findings, both from an educational and clinical perspective, the present work stresses the importance of integrating the outdoor education in the programs of services dedicated to early childhood since it might act as protective factor for well-being in potentially stressful situations, such as the health emergency, and promote children’s optimal development both at personal and social level.
Keywords
- Outdoor education
- nursery schools
- child development
- attention
- socio-emotional development
