I am currently writing a new book for Bloomsbury Education, titled Take Learning Outdoors, with Gemma Goldenberg. It is a follow-on from our previous book, Take Action on Distraction, which explored how noise, visual clutter, stress, technology and classroom design affect children’s attention and learning.

In this new book, we take the argument one step further. Modern childhood is increasingly urban, indoor, screen-based, fast-paced and sensory dense. We ask why outdoor environments so often seem to help children feel calmer, concentrate better, play more deeply, move more freely and learn more effectively. 

Our central argument is that outdoor learning is not just a pleasant extra, or a break from “real” learning. For many children, and especially for younger children, outdoor environments provide the sensory conditions that developing brains need. Compared with many indoor settings, outdoor spaces often offer cleaner sound, more visual space, and greater freedom of movement. These features can reduce cognitive and physiological load, helping children’s attention, stress regulation, physical development, wellbeing and learning to settle into a more productive rhythm.

The book is not about nostalgia for ‘the good old days’. It is not packed with halcyon memories of collecting feathers from dewy meadows. It is not about how learning survival skills - making camp fires and whittling sticks - is more important than everyday numeracy and literacy learning. It is not about the evils of new technologies and the modern ways of life. 

Instead, it is about what science has taught us, over the past fifteen to twenty years, about the environments in which young brains learn most effectively. It is about why some children’s brains learn more effectively in outdoor settings than they do in indoor settings, and how environments influence not just attention and learning but also stress, behavioural dysregulation and long-term mental health. We consider why the benefits of outdoor learning might be stronger for young children than for older ones, and explain why some children benefit more from learning outdoors than others. 

As with Take Action on Distraction, the book will translate research into practical guidance for early years and primary educators, with realistic suggestions for embedding outdoor learning into everyday practice, whatever space, budget or setting they are working with.