Blog
Notes on outdoor education, play, nature and events for children.
-
A programme for your group starts with observation
Pedagogical documentation — the method that builds a programme out of what children do rather than what adults say about them. What the recent research shows and how I use it.
personalised programmes research method -
Risk and nature: what the recent reviews show
A 2025 review of 40 studies on risky play, a meta-analysis on learning in nature, and the evidence on forest school for preschoolers and for children with special educational needs.
outdoor education research risky play forest school -
Unstructured time is not wasted time
A study in the Journal of Pediatrics links the decline in children independent activity to the decline in their mental wellbeing. The figures, the proposed mechanism, and what can be done concretely.
unstructured time research free play -
What a “personalised programme” means when it means something
Meda Căpîlna on what the international research shows about personalising learning for children: what holds up, what has been disproved, and how it translates into a real programme.
personalised programmes research education -
What research says about learning through play
The American Academy of Pediatrics clinical report, the evidence the LEGO Foundation gathered across 18 countries, and what "play" actually means in the research — briefly, without the enthusiasm.
play research education -
Forest school is not a lesson held in a park
Meda Căpîlna on what forest school actually is, why returning to the same place matters more than the place itself, and what the adult is really there to do.
forest school outdoor education -
What sea turtles taught me about patience
Meda Căpîlna writes from a marine conservation centre in Thailand: the unglamorous daily work, the very long timescales, and what it all means for children.
conservation nature Thailand