Children’s Mental Health Week takes place every February. Since 2015, it has helped us listen to children and young people. It also helps us talk more openly about mental health.

Here at Cosy, we are outdoor advocates. As Charlotte Mason said, “never be within doors when you can rightfully be without”. We believe nature brings back the magic of childhood.

That might be forest school days. It might be quiet time in a bird hide. Or it could be climbing, jumping and moving outside.

There are lots of reasons we love outdoor play. One big reason is wellbeing. Being outside can help children feel calmer, brighter and more settled.

This Children’s Mental Health Week, we’re sharing why outdoor play can support mental health. We’ll also look at recent research. It backs up a value we’ve always held close.

Getting moving

Being active can support mental wellbeing. Most of us know that feeling. A run can clear your head. A walk can calm your thoughts. Movement can help you feel more balanced. These benefits matter for children too.

Outdoor play makes this easy. It invites children to move in natural ways. They run in the playground. They explore woodland paths. They mix a mud pie at forest school. They roll on the grass and laugh with friends.

Best of all, outdoor play is often open-ended. Children choose what to do. They follow their own ideas. With time and space, movement grows. Climbing, stretching and chasing games happen without prompts.

So let’s make the most of it. Offer regular time outdoors. Keep it simple. Give children freedom to explore, move and play. Then watch their confidence and wellbeing build.

A naturally enabling environment

Enabling environments are a firm part of the Early Years Foundation Stage. When a space is planned with care, it can meet the needs of your cohort. It can also give children time and freedom to lead their own learning. This supports wellbeing every day.

As the Early Years Coalition highlights, enabling environments can offer children “security, comfort, choice, engagement and opportunity”.

And one of the most enabling environments of all is the outdoors.

The outdoor classroom, and outdoor spaces of all kinds, can be wonderfully enabling. Children can move freely. They can explore through their senses. They can follow their own play, without feeling boxed in by four walls.

Outside, children also meet real problems to solve. Because of this, they build confidence through everyday play. As a result, security, choice and self-expression grow.

Digital detox

A recent study has raised a concern many of us recognise. Screen time is rising, while outdoor play is shrinking. Charan (2024) notes worries for children’s “physical health, mental well-being and overall development”.

Technology can support learning. However, it cannot replace the real outdoor world. At the same time, this is not about screens versus outdoor play. For many children, the outdoors can be a helpful balance. It can ease overstimulation and invite movement.

Outside brings fresh air, natural sounds and space to breathe. Children can move, explore and discover at their own pace. That is where confidence and calm can grow.

Communication and language

Speech and Language UK highlight an important link. Children with speech and language needs can face a higher risk of mental health problems. When communication is hard, friendships and learning can feel harder too.

Speech and language difficulties are complex. They often need support from trained adults. That includes teachers, therapists and families working together.

But we can also add everyday opportunities that help. The outdoors is one of them.

For instance, a 2022 study by Scott et al, suggests there is “indicative evidence” that engaging with nature may support language and communication. That can also support wellbeing, because children feel more confident and more connected.

Getting outside is not a fix-all. Yet it can be a gentle, powerful part of the bigger picture. It gives children space to talk, play, listen and belong.

And much, much more...

Overall, there is much more to be said on the benefits of outdoor play, and research is ongoing. Keep your eyes out for more updates from us on our favourite topic ever!