With this project, we promote equal opportunities for free play and learning in nature and/or outdoors with natural elements for all children, especially those with fewer opportunities; and we reach education professionals from social institutions who educate and care for children from families with fewer opportunities, contributing to Inclusion and Diversity in education. The Estoi Community Center (ECC) innovated its teaching approach and the experience of its staff in outdoor learning and free play approaches, contributing to the Development of High-Quality Early Childhood Education. There was a reconnection of the ECC team and the acquisition of confidence and motivation in the development of outdoor learning activities. In the children benefiting from the project, respect for others and nature was developed. Among the parents, it was possible to observe a change in awareness of the importance and benefits of free play in nature. The development of the entire project with environmental awareness triggered awareness in this sense within the educational community in its daily actions and activities outside the project.
The absence of free play in nature is notable in educational establishments in Portugal, which has consequences for the development of children's motor, cognitive, emotional, and social skills; and causes a significant increase in mental disorders, such as anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, attention deficit and thoughts of suicide in the transition from adolescence to adulthood; as well as the growing trend towards overweight, obesity, diabetes, heart and respiratory diseases. This disconnection from nature and deprivation of free play is related to excessive protection, due to a lack of knowledge about the importance and benefits associated with free play in nature and healthy risks. With this project, it was possible to transmit to the educational community information about safety measures and risk assessment used by safe, appropriate, and experienced outdoor teaching and free play approaches, practiced for decades in other countries, both at European and global levels, as well as demystifying the fears and insecurities associated with free play in nature, and the lack of knowledge about its benefits.