Utomhusmiljöns betydelse för barns sociala relationer och möjligheter till lärande

Sammanfattning: The aim of our study is to understand the importance of the preschool outdoor environment for children’s social relations and possibility of learning.    We have the following issues in our study; In what way can the preschool outdoor environment and children’s social relations contribute to children’s possibility of learning? In what way do the preschool teachers reason about how their preschool outdoor environment have significance on children’s social relations? In what way do the preschool teachers reason about their own importance as preschool teachers in the preschool outdoor environment and how their preschool outdoor environment can contribute to children’s possibility of learning? The central theoretical assumption in the present study is the social culture theory. We also inspires on how Karin Hultman uses the post humanistic theory. We have a qualitative approach on our study and the methods we use are observations and interviews.   The most important contribution of our study is that it gives an increased understanding of how the design of the preschool outdoor environment is significant for children’s social relations and possibility of learning. Our results from the study show that differences in the design of the preschool outdoor environment gives different prerequisites for children’s social relations and possibility of learning. For example; a preschool outdoor environment that contains a material which is not predetermined give the children more room for action and more possibilities of develop social relations. The increased possibilities of developing social relations also contribute to several possibilities of learning for the children.