How Our Outdoor, Child-Led Learning Reflects the Reggio Emilia Approach

Children are naturally curious, capable, and full of potential. At Saplings Outdoor Program we see each child as an active participant in their own learning and growth — a vision that strongly reflects the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach to early education.

The official Reggio Emilia philosophy describes children as active constructors of knowledge, researchers and problem solvers, and co-learners with peers and educators in a rich and relational environment. It places value on listening deeply to children’s ideas, on documenting learning over time, and on environments that invite exploration and meaning-making.

Just as Reggio Emilia emerges from real experiences and relationships, our nature-based model supports children’s well-being, curiosity, and independence through ongoing outdoor inquiry and play.

Children as Competent Explorers

In the Reggio Emilia approach a fundamental belief is that children are competent, curious, and full of potential, not empty vessels to be filled with information, but active constructors of their own learning.

We share this belief. At Saplings, children lead their participation by following their interests, asking questions, experimenting physically and cognitively, and making meaning from the world around them. Whether children are tracking insects, building with sticks, negotiating group ideas on the trail, or observing changing seasons and weather, their curiosity drives learning, and their questions shape how they explore.

This nurtures curiosity as well as confidence and agency; children learn to trust that they can discover answers, test ideas, and build understanding through direct experience.

Environment as the Third Teacher

Reggio Emilia describes the learning environment as a “third teacher.” In their view, space should be inviting, reflective of the community, and full of possibilities for interaction, collaboration, and investigation.

In Saplings’ outdoor classrooms, nature becomes the ultimate third teacher. Forests, meadows, creeks, shorelines, and seasonal changes provide endless opportunities for observation, trial and error, and deep sensory engagement. These environments support physical well-being and movement, emotional regulation, and cognitive exploration in ways that are dynamic and self-directed.

Children learn to assess risk, balance physical challenge with safety, and draw meaning from experiences that have complexity and depth; all of which build independence and resilience.

Play and Multiple Languages of Expression

The Reggio Emilia philosophy celebrates the many ways children think and express ideas — including art, movement, language, construction, collaboration, and symbolic representation. This is often described as the “hundred languages of children.”

Outdoor learning naturally invites diverse languages of expression. A child might sculpt with clay, dramatise a story in a forest clearing, map tree forms in paint, negotiate roles in a group exploration, or interpret animal tracks through drawing and dialogue. Each of these expressions represents different ways of knowing and communicating, and each enriches children’s understanding of self and others.

This celebration of multiple expressions supports creativity, collaboration, and deep engagement.

Educators as Co-Learners and Facilitators

In the Reggio Emilia approach educators are viewed not as directors of learning, but as co-learners, listeners, and thoughtful observers. Educators intentionally document children’s ideas, raise questions, and provide materials or provocations that extend inquiry, while being careful not to prescribe outcomes.

Saplings educators adopt this same stance. Rather than directing learning, we position ourselves beside children, observing, listening, and responding to interests with intentional provocations or questions. We support children as they predict, test, reflect, and revise ideas, strengthening independence and problem-solving capacities.

We honour children’s voices, scaffold inquiry when needed, and create space for reflection, not control.

Well-Being Through Relationship and Engagement

Well-being is woven through both Reggio Emilia and nature-based learning. Reggio Emilia emphasises relationships among children, educators, families, and the community as essential to learning. These meaningful relationships, along with opportunities for expression, exploration, and agency, nurture children’s emotional and social well-being.

At Saplings, nature and the community become part of children’s relational world. Long-term engagement with land and peers supports belonging, self-confidence, and emotional resilience, all of which are not separate from learning but integral to it. When children move with joy, follow curiosity, contribute ideas, and feel heard and respected, well-being flourishes.

Final Thoughts

While Reggio Emilia and our forest-based approach have different historical roots and contexts, the core educational outcomes converge strongly:

• Children are seen as capable, curious learners with ideas worth listening to.

• Environments are rich with possibilities and act as meaningful partners in learning.

• Educators are observers, collaborators, and facilitators, not directors.

• Multiple languages of expression are honoured.

• Well-being is central to the educational experience.

At Saplings these principles are lived every day through play, inquiry, exploration, and deep connection with land, peers, and self; nurturing well-being, curiosity, and independence in every child.