What Is Expressive Arts Outdoors?
Expressive Arts Outdoors is about giving babies and young children opportunities to create, imagine, perform, move, make music, experiment and express themselves through experiences in the outdoor environment.
For young children, creativity does not need to mean sitting at a table completing a planned craft.
It might look like:
- mixing mud and water to create different shades
- making enormous chalk marks across the playground
- dancing with ribbons in the wind
- tapping sticks together to explore rhythm
- building a stage from crates
- creating sculptures from stones, leaves and sticks
- telling stories inside a den
- using puddles as part of a painting
- making music from pots, pans and natural objects
- creating transient art directly on the ground
The outdoors provides something the indoor environment cannot always offer: space, scale, movement, sound, nature and freedom.
Children can create bigger.
Move further.
Make more noise.
Experiment more freely.
And experience creativity through their entire bodies.
This makes the outdoor environment an incredibly powerful place for supporting Expressive Arts and Design in the EYFS.
For a more comprehensive guide, read this handbook: The Complete Guide to Early Years Outdoors.
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Expressive Arts and Design in the EYFS
Expressive Arts and Design remains one of the four specific areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage.
The statutory EYFS framework explains that developing children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity and that children should have regular opportunities to engage with the arts and explore a wide range of media and materials. (GOV.UK)
The Department for Education also emphasises that the quality, variety, frequency, repetition and depth of children’s artistic experiences are important for developing self-expression, vocabulary, communication and children’s ability to respond to what they see, hear and experience. (Help for Early Years Providers)
This is important.
Expressive Arts and Design should not simply become a collection of adult-led craft activities.
Instead, children need repeated opportunities to:
explore → experiment → revisit → change → combine → imagine → create → communicate.
The outdoor environment is ideal for this.
Why Take Expressive Arts and Design Outdoors?
Taking expressive arts outdoors is not simply about moving an easel from inside to outside.
Outdoor learning changes what becomes possible.
Children can work on a larger scale
Inside, children may draw on A4 paper.
Outside, they can use:
- playground chalk
- huge rolls of paper
- paving slabs
- water and brushes
- mud
- sticks
- ropes
- fabric
- entire walls or fences
Large-scale creativity encourages children to use their shoulders, arms and whole bodies.
This links naturally with physical development as well as creativity.
Children can make noise
Music outside can be wonderfully freeing.
Children can:
- bang
- tap
- scrape
- shake
- stamp
- sing
- clap
- experiment with volume
- investigate echoes
- listen to environmental sounds
Activities that might feel overwhelming inside can become much easier to manage outdoors.
Nature provides constantly changing inspiration
The outdoor environment changes every day.
Children can respond creatively to:
- rain
- frost
- shadows
- wind
- autumn leaves
- flowers
- snow
- puddles
- clouds
- birdsong
- insects
- changing light
A creative outdoor curriculum can therefore feel completely different throughout the year.
Outdoor creativity can be more open-ended
Natural and recycled resources often have no single predetermined purpose.
A stick might become:
a paintbrush, wand, drumstick, character, pencil, microphone, fishing rod or part of a sculpture.
This supports imagination and flexible thinking.
Expressive Arts Outdoors Is More Than Outdoor Art
One of the biggest mistakes settings can make is assuming Expressive Arts and Design simply means painting and craft.
It is much broader.
Outdoor Expressive Arts and Design can include:
Art and mark making
Painting, drawing, colour, pattern, texture, sculpture and transient art.
Music
Singing, rhythm, instruments, environmental sounds and composing.
Movement and dance
Responding physically to music, nature, stories and ideas.
Imaginative play
Creating characters, situations, worlds and narratives.
Performance
Acting, storytelling, puppetry, dance, music and role play.
Designing and making
Combining materials, joining objects and developing children’s own ideas.
The Department for Education’s current support materials encourage settings to consider imagination, creativity, self-expression and communication through the arts as part of their Expressive Arts and Design curriculum. (Help for Early Years Providers)
Creating an Outstanding Expressive Arts Outdoor Area
You do not need a brightly coloured outdoor art station filled with dozens of plastic resources.
In fact, less can often encourage more creative thinking.
Start with flexible resources children can independently access.
Useful resources include
- chalk
- charcoal
- paint
- brushes
- large decorating brushes
- rollers
- water
- buckets
- mud
- clay
- sticks
- leaves
- stones
- flowers
- grasses
- shells
- pinecones
- cardboard
- boxes
- tubes
- fabric
- ribbons
- scarves
- pegs
- ropes
- crates
- wooden blocks
- pots
- pans
- spoons
- recycled containers
The aim is not to provide everything at once.
Think carefully about what you want children to explore.
Then provide enough resources for children to investigate that idea deeply.
Development Matters specifically encourages open-ended resources, including natural materials, and places importance on repeated opportunities for children to explore media, materials, sounds, movement and their own creative ideas. (GOV.UK)
Outdoor Art Ideas for EYFS
Here are some simple ways to develop art outdoors without relying on templates or adult-produced outcomes.
1. Giant chalk drawings
Give children playground chalk and a large area of paving.
Encourage them to create:
- enormous people
- roads
- maps
- imaginary creatures
- patterns
- letters
- shapes
- story scenes
Avoid telling children exactly what the finished picture should look like.
2. Water painting
Provide buckets of water and large decorating brushes.
Children can paint:
- walls
- fences
- paving
- trees
- wooden panels
Watch what happens as the water disappears.
This simple activity encourages mark making, movement and early scientific thinking.
3. Mud painting
Mix soil and water into different consistencies.
Add:
- brushes
- sticks
- feathers
- leaves
- cardboard
- stones
Can children create different textures and shades?
4. Nature paintbrushes
Attach natural materials to sticks.
Try:
- grasses
- leaves
- pine needles
- flowers
- feathers
Compare the marks each one creates.
5. Puddle painting
After rain, use puddles as part of children’s creative exploration.
Children might:
- mix colours beside puddles
- make watery marks
- create patterns around them
- paint stones
- draw around puddle shapes
6. Shadow drawing
Place interesting objects or figures in sunlight.
Draw around their shadows.
Return later.
Has the shadow moved?
7. Outdoor self-portraits
Provide mirrors alongside chalk or charcoal.
Children can create enormous self-portraits directly onto the ground.
8. Painting vertically
Attach paper to:
- fences
- walls
- easels
- trees using appropriate clips
- cardboard panels
Vertical mark making provides a different physical experience from working flat on a table.
9. Painting with vehicles
Dip toy vehicle wheels into washable paint and explore the tracks they create across large sheets of paper.
10. Painting to music
Play different styles of music outdoors.
Ask children to respond through movement and mark making.
Fast music might inspire quick marks.
Slow music might create sweeping movements.
There is no correct interpretation.
Natural Art Activities for EYFS
Nature offers an endless supply of temporary creative materials.
Try:
- leaf mandalas
- stone spirals
- stick people
- flower pictures
- bark rubbings
- leaf rubbings
- nature faces
- stick sculptures
- pebble patterns
- colour collections
- seasonal nature pictures
- natural weaving
- woodland crowns
- miniature gardens
- fairy or creature homes
- nature frames
- outdoor collages
Remember that transient art does not need to be taken home.
Part of the experience can be accepting that the artwork changes, blows away or returns to nature.
Photographing creations can allow children to revisit and discuss them later.
Music Outdoors in EYFS
Music works brilliantly outdoors because children can explore sound without needing to remain quiet.
Create an outdoor music station using:
- pots
- pans
- wooden spoons
- metal spoons
- buckets
- tubes
- containers
- bells
- shakers
- drums
- chimes
- natural objects
Ask:
Which makes the loudest sound?
Which is the quietest?
What happens when we hit it gently?
Can you copy my rhythm?
Can you make a rhythm for me to copy?
Which materials sound similar?
Can we make rain sounds?
Can we make thunder?
Make Music With Nature
Children do not always need conventional instruments.
Try:
- tapping two sticks together
- tapping sticks against different surfaces
- shaking seed heads
- rustling leaves
- crunching gravel
- stamping through leaves
- splashing puddles
- tapping stones
- scraping sticks along fences
- listening to rain
- listening to wind
- copying birdsong
This helps children recognise that music begins with listening.
Listening Walks
Take children on a quiet listening walk.
Stop regularly.
Ask:
What can you hear?
You might hear:
- birds
- traffic
- footsteps
- wind
- leaves
- aeroplanes
- voices
- dogs
- water
- construction
- insects
Back in the setting, children could recreate those sounds using voices, bodies or instruments.
Singing Outdoors
Take familiar songs outside.
Use songs involving:
- movement
- counting
- weather
- animals
- journeys
- nature
- call and response
- rhythm
Development Matters recommends regular experience of songs and rhymes and encourages children to explore different ways of playing instruments and responding physically and emotionally to music. (GOV.UK)
Dance and Movement Outdoors
Outdoor spaces allow children to use movements that can be difficult indoors.
Encourage children to:
- spin
- stretch
- jump
- sway
- crawl
- stamp
- march
- skip
- travel
- freeze
- move quickly
- move slowly
Add scarves, ribbons or fabric.
Then introduce ideas.
Can you move like the wind?
Can you move like falling snow?
Can you move like a tiny insect?
Can you move like a giant?
Can you move like the ocean?
Can you dance like a leaf blowing from a tree?
The aim is interpretation rather than imitation.
Outdoor Performance in EYFS
You do not need an expensive outdoor stage.
A few crates or a defined space can be enough.
Children might perform:
- songs
- dances
- puppet shows
- stories
- poems
- jokes
- invented performances
- familiar traditional tales
- their own narratives
Provide:
- fabric
- simple costumes
- hats
- open-ended props
- puppets
- musical instruments
Allow children to decide what happens.
Outdoor Imaginative Play
Some of the richest expressive arts learning happens through child-led imaginative play.
A cardboard box outside could become:
- a bus
- shop
- spaceship
- castle
- café
- boat
- veterinary surgery
- stage
- den
- house
Crates might become:
- seats
- beds
- vehicles
- walls
- tables
- stages
- animal enclosures
Loose materials allow children’s imagination to determine the play rather than the resource dictating it.
Storytelling Outdoors
The outdoor environment can help children physically enter stories.
Instead of simply reading a story and completing an activity afterwards, recreate elements of the story through the environment.
Children could:
- build the Three Little Pigs’ houses
- follow a Gruffalo-style woodland trail
- create a giant beanstalk
- make a bear cave
- build a pirate ship
- create a dragon’s nest
- make homes for imaginary creatures
Then encourage children to invent their own narratives.
Small-World Play Outdoors
Small-world play does not always need to happen inside a plastic tray.
Take figures outside and combine them with:
- soil
- bark
- stones
- plants
- sand
- puddles
- sticks
- moss
- logs
Children can create entire landscapes.
Dinosaurs can stomp through mud.
Animals can live beneath trees.
People can travel across stone mountains.
Vehicles can follow roads drawn through soil.
Outdoor Sculpture
Give children materials they can stack, balance, connect and combine.
Try:
- sticks
- stones
- clay
- mud
- cardboard
- tubes
- wood
- leaves
- fabric
- string
- boxes
Ask:
How could these pieces stay together?
How tall can you make it?
Could you change it?
What would happen if we added another piece?
Focus on children’s decisions rather than producing identical outcomes.
Creative Activities for Babies Outdoors
Expressive arts outdoors begins long before children can hold a paintbrush.
Babies can experience:
- wind moving ribbons
- leaves rustling
- sunlight and shadow
- gentle music outdoors
- textured natural objects
- singing
- action rhymes
- safe sensory painting
- water
- movement
- fabric
- bubbles
- different sounds
Development Matters identifies children’s earliest responses to sound, music, movement, pattern, texture and intentional mark making as part of the developmental journey within Expressive Arts and Design. (GOV.UK)
Creative Activities for Toddlers Outdoors
Toddlers often enjoy repetition.
This is valuable learning.
Allow children to repeatedly:
- fill and empty paint pots
- paint the same fence
- splash the same puddle
- bang the same drum
- repeat the same song
- make the same circular mark
- wrap fabric around objects
- transport creative materials
- mix mud and water
- dance to favourite music
Do not rush to introduce something new simply because children have done an activity before.
Repetition allows children to develop mastery.
Expressive Arts Outdoors for 3 and 4-Year-Olds
At this stage children can increasingly:
- develop imaginative stories
- remember songs
- respond to sounds
- explore colour
- combine materials
- develop drawings
- create representations
- explore instruments
- develop pretend play
- talk about their creations
Outdoor experiences can become increasingly sophisticated while remaining playful.
Expressive Arts Outdoors in Reception
Reception children can begin to work with greater intention.
Provide opportunities to:
- create collaboratively
- perform for others
- develop narratives
- revisit artwork
- mix colours intentionally
- respond to artists
- respond to music
- invent dances
- create props
- design structures
- compose rhythms
- develop observational drawings
- explain artistic choices
Development Matters suggests Reception children should have opportunities to listen and move to music, discuss their responses to music, watch and discuss dance and performance, sing and engage in music-making and dance individually and in groups. (GOV.UK)
Introducing Artists Outdoors
Outdoor art does not mean children should only make pictures from leaves.
Children should also encounter artists, makers, musicians and performers from different places, periods and cultures.
Development Matters specifically encourages practitioners to introduce children to artists across times and cultures and help them notice connections between artists’ work and their own exploration of details, colour, line and movement. (GOV.UK)
You could explore artists whose work connects particularly well with outdoor experiences.
For example:
- sculpture
- land art
- pattern
- colour
- large-scale artwork
- environmental art
- textile art
- observational drawing
Show the children the artwork.
Talk about it.
Then offer interesting materials.
Avoid asking every child to produce a copy.
The artist should be the inspiration, not the template.
Process Over Product
One of the most important principles within effective early years expressive arts provision is valuing the process.
Instead of asking:
“What are we making today?”
ask:
“What are we exploring today?”
Children may paint for twenty minutes and then wash the whole picture away.
That is still learning.
They may build a sculpture and dismantle it.
That is still learning.
They may spend their time mixing colours rather than producing a picture.
That is still learning.
Creativity is not measured by how attractive something looks on a display board.
Avoid Identical Craft Activities
If thirty children make thirty identical ladybirds, adults have made most of the creative decisions.
The adult has usually decided:
- the material
- the colour
- the shape
- the layout
- the sequence
- what the finished object should represent
Instead, give children knowledge, experiences and high-quality materials and allow them to make more decisions themselves.
This develops genuine creative thinking.
The Role of the Adult
Adults remain important.
Child-led creativity does not mean adults simply stand back.
Adults can:
- model techniques
- introduce vocabulary
- introduce artists and musicians
- demonstrate how resources work
- notice children’s interests
- ask thoughtful questions
- help children develop an idea
- encourage children to revisit work
- introduce new possibilities
- document children’s thinking
The Department for Education’s guidance stresses that how adults respond to children’s expression can influence children’s willingness to continue developing that expression. (Help for Early Years Providers)
Try comments such as:
“Tell me about what you’re doing.”
“I noticed you changed that.”
“How did you make that sound?”
“What are you thinking about adding next?”
“What did you notice?”
rather than constantly asking:
“What is it?”
Expressive Arts Outdoors and SEND
Creative outdoor experiences can provide particularly valuable opportunities for children with SEND.
Art, movement, sound and sensory exploration offer children different ways of communicating.
This is especially important for children who may not communicate primarily through spoken language.
Current Department for Education guidance highlights that children can communicate meaning through responses to materials and experiences, including children without language, children with English as an additional language and children with SEND. (Help for Early Years Providers)
Offer different ways to participate.
A child might:
- watch
- touch
- move
- point
- vocalise
- arrange
- bang
- paint
- build
- dance
- copy
- repeat
- lead
Participation does not need to look the same for every child.
Expressive Arts Outdoors and Communication and Language
Expressive arts naturally creates opportunities for language.
Introduce words such as:
- smooth
- rough
- bright
- dark
- pale
- strong
- gentle
- rhythm
- beat
- pattern
- line
- curve
- spiral
- shade
- texture
- sculpture
- movement
- balance
- performance
- design
The richest vocabulary often comes through conversation during meaningful experiences rather than isolated vocabulary lessons.
Expressive Arts Outdoors and Physical Development
Large-scale creative activity can support:
- shoulder stability
- arm strength
- hand-eye coordination
- bilateral coordination
- gross motor development
- fine motor control
- balance
- spatial awareness
Painting a huge wall with water requires a very different movement from colouring a worksheet.
Children can use their whole bodies to create.
Expressive Arts Outdoors and Understanding the World
Creative experiences also help children observe the natural world.
Children might investigate:
- seasonal colours
- patterns in leaves
- bark texture
- symmetry
- shadows
- ice
- changing weather
- flowers
- insects
- natural sounds
Development Matters encourages children to use their senses in hands-on exploration of natural materials and provides examples including bark, leaves, seeds, rocks, shells and pebbles. (GOV.UK)
This makes a natural connection between Expressive Arts and Design and Understanding the World.
Sustainable Expressive Arts Outdoors
Creative provision does not need endless packs of new craft materials.
Use what you already have.
Try:
- cardboard
- packaging
- boxes
- fabric offcuts
- tubes
- bottle tops where age-appropriate and safely managed
- natural loose parts
- old kitchen equipment
- reclaimed wood
- reusable containers
The goal should be reuse rather than consume wherever possible.
Natural materials can also encourage creativity because they do not already tell the child what they are supposed to become.
Seasonal Expressive Arts Outdoor Ideas
Spring
- blossom painting
- flower colour matching
- observational drawing
- rain dancing
- bird-song listening
- nature crowns
- spring transient art
Summer
- shadow drawing
- giant water painting
- outdoor performances
- flower painting
- barefoot sensory art where appropriate
- outdoor music
- collaborative murals
Autumn
- leaf printing
- leaf dances
- natural colour collections
- stick sculptures
- autumn sound walks
- conker and seed patterns
- transient art
Winter
- ice painting
- frost mark making
- frozen sculptures
- winter sound walks
- shadow investigations
- movement inspired by winter weather
30 Quick Expressive Arts Outdoors Ideas
- Giant chalk pictures
- Mud painting
- Water painting
- Nature paintbrushes
- Leaf printing
- Bark rubbing
- Shadow drawing
- Outdoor easels
- Puddle art
- Stone sculptures
- Stick sculptures
- Nature mandalas
- Giant cardboard construction
- Outdoor weaving
- Ribbon dancing
- Scarf dancing
- Music walls
- Pot-and-pan orchestras
- Listening walks
- Nature rhythms
- Outdoor singing circles
- Story stages
- Puppet theatres
- Den storytelling
- Small-world nature play
- Giant loose-parts pictures
- Clay and nature sculptures
- Collaborative outdoor murals
- Painting to music
- Outdoor performance areas
Questions to Ask During Expressive Arts Outdoors
Avoid questioning children constantly.
But when conversation naturally develops, try:
- What have you noticed?
- How did you make that?
- What might you try next?
- How could you change it?
- Which sound do you like?
- How did you make that sound?
- What does this remind you of?
- Which material could you use?
- What happens when you mix them?
- How does the music make you want to move?
- Can you show me another way?
- What could this become?
What Should Practitioners Observe?
Rather than judging the quality of the final product, notice children’s thinking.
Look for children:
- choosing resources
- expressing preferences
- developing ideas
- making connections
- repeating actions
- changing strategies
- combining materials
- experimenting with sound
- responding to music
- moving imaginatively
- creating narratives
- collaborating
- communicating ideas
- revisiting previous experiences
These behaviours tell us much more about children’s learning than whether they produced a recognisable picture.
Does Expressive Arts and Design Have to Happen Indoors?
No.
There is nothing within the EYFS that requires Expressive Arts and Design to be taught at an indoor art table.
The EYFS sets out the educational experiences children should receive.
Settings decide how those experiences are delivered.
The outdoor environment can therefore form a meaningful and regular part of your Expressive Arts and Design curriculum.
How Often Should Children Experience Expressive Arts?
Think regularly, not occasionally.
The statutory educational programme emphasises regular opportunities to engage with the arts, while Development Matters highlights the importance of frequency, repetition and depth. (GOV.UK)
Creative opportunities should therefore form part of everyday provision rather than appearing only when there is a festival, seasonal display or adult-led craft activity.
Do We Need a Permanent Outdoor Art Area?
Not necessarily.
Outstanding outdoor provision does not mean recreating every indoor area outside.
Instead, think about experiences.
You might provide painting one week.
Music another.
Large-scale construction another.
Then revisit those experiences later.
Flexible provision often offers richer possibilities than filling the playground with permanent labelled stations.
What Is the Adult’s Role in Outdoor Expressive Arts?
Adults should provide knowledge, materials, experiences and sensitive interaction while allowing children to retain creative ownership.
Introduce possibilities.
Model techniques when useful.
Then allow children to take those ideas somewhere unexpected.
How Can We Support Expressive Arts Outdoors in a Small Space?
You do not need a forest or enormous playground.
In a small space try:
- vertical water painting
- chalk drawing
- ribbons
- music making
- small-world play
- transient art
- clay
- loose parts
- storytelling
- puppets
- shadow exploration
- small-scale construction
The quality of the experience matters more than the size of the outdoor area.
How Can We Make Outdoor Expressive Arts More Child-Led?
Reduce the number of adult-decided outcomes.
Instead of:
“Today everyone is making a butterfly.”
try:
“We’ve been noticing butterflies. Here are photographs, paints, chalks and some interesting materials. What could we create?”
You are still teaching.
But the child retains ownership.
Final Thoughts: Creativity Belongs Outdoors
Expressive Arts and Design should be joyful, exploratory and full of possibility.
The outdoors gives young children opportunities to create at a scale and intensity that can be difficult to reproduce inside.
Let children:
make mess.
make noise.
move.
experiment.
imagine.
change their minds.
create things that disappear.
perform.
tell stories.
build.
paint.
dance.
listen.
And, most importantly, give children enough time to return to their ideas again and again.
Because outstanding expressive arts provision is not about producing thirty beautiful pieces of artwork.
It is about helping thirty individual children discover that their ideas are worth expressing.
Expressive Arts Outdoors FAQs
What is Expressive Arts and Design in EYFS?
Expressive Arts and Design is one of the seven areas of learning and development within the EYFS. It supports children’s imagination, creativity, artistic awareness, self-expression and ability to communicate through art, music, movement, performance and other creative experiences.
What are good outdoor expressive arts activities?
Strong activities include giant mark making, water painting, mud painting, natural sculpture, music making, ribbon dancing, storytelling, outdoor stages, loose-parts art, transient nature art and imaginative role play.
Can EYFS art activities be child-led?
Yes. In fact, giving children genuine choices over materials, ideas and outcomes can support deeper creative thinking than identical adult-led craft activities.
How can nature be used for expressive arts?
Leaves, sticks, stones, bark, flowers, mud, water, shadows and seasonal changes can inspire drawing, sculpture, pattern, music, movement, storytelling and imaginative play.
How does outdoor art support physical development?
Large-scale painting, chalking, building and movement require children to use the arms, shoulders, hands and whole body, supporting coordination, strength and motor development.
Does outdoor music count as Expressive Arts and Design?
Yes. Singing, listening, rhythm, movement, experimenting with instruments and creating music all form important parts of Expressive Arts and Design.
How can Expressive Arts Outdoors support SEND?
Outdoor creative experiences provide multiple ways for children to communicate and participate without relying solely on spoken language. Sound, movement, touch, visual art and sensory exploration can all become forms of expression.
Should EYFS children copy an artist’s work?
Children can learn about artists and explore their techniques, colours, patterns or ideas, but this does not need to result in every child producing an identical copy. Artists can provide inspiration while children retain creative ownership.
Do children need to produce finished artwork?
No. Exploration itself is valuable. Mixing colours, experimenting with marks, changing a sculpture, repeating a rhythm or dismantling a creation can all represent significant learning.
What resources do I need for Expressive Arts Outdoors?
Start simply with chalk, water, paint, brushes, fabric, recycled cardboard, pots and pans and natural loose parts such as sticks, leaves and stones. High-quality creative provision does not require large quantities of expensive equipment.
Discover our Outdoor Play EYFS Guide, Early Years Outdoor Learning Guide, Loose Parts Play EYFS Guide and sustainable early years ideas, or sign up for the free Muddy Puddle Teacher® weekly magazine for practical screen-free activities and outdoor learning inspiration. Take a 60-day free trial to download thousands of early years outdoor play ideas now.
