Tulip Toys - No1 for Wooden Toys Play space vital for tots

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Play space vital for tots
Research from Finland suggesting that young children need outdoor space to achieve optimum brain development has led to calls for change in the regulation of private nurseries in Scotland. Matti Bergstrom, emeritus professor of neurophysiology at Helsinki University, argues that too much order in a child's life can inhibit their learning.

Until the age of six or seven, children must have access to space and freedom to play out their fantasies, Professor Bergstrom says. The area of the brain that processes logic and order has not fully developed and the children depend more on their inner feelings. However, a study of the regulations relating to outdoor space in children's services, carried out by Children in Europe, has shown that many countries have no requirement or recommendation that would ensure that every children attending an early years service would have access to the outdoor space they need.

In Scotland, requirements for nurseries based in schools state that every child should have access to at least 9.3 square metres of outdoor space. Pre-school services outwith schools, including private nurseries, are not covered by such regulation. One of Scotland's leading children's charities, Children in Scotland, has called on the Scottish Executive to extend these regulations to include nurseries outwith the state sector.

(TES Scotland, 16 January 2004)

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