The topic of the transition from preschool to primary school has gained increasing attention in recent years and has become more central in the European educational landscape. This growing attention culminated in the report Transitions from Early Childhood Education and Care to Primary Education (OECD, 2017). The report analyses policies and practices adopted in OECD countries to design, manage, and monitor transitions, identifying challenges and strategies to ensure professional and pedagogical continuity.

The literature highlights that transitions are not simply a “change of setting” or the event of moving from one school level to another. Rather, transitions are complex processes that involve transformations in educational practices, routines, relationships, and competences (Fabian & Dunlop, 2007). One of the major changes in the transition from preschool to primary school concerns the shift in pedagogical culture. Preschool settings are usually more play-based and child-centred, whereas primary schools tend to be more structured and performance-oriented (Walsh et al., 2008). The transition from play-based learning to a more formal approach can lead to difficulties for children in the first year of primary school and may be considered a potential risk factor. Recent reports also highlight the importance of stronger alignment between preschool and primary school curricula, as well as the integration of play-based and experiential activities, especially in the first years of formal schooling (OECD, 2017).

From this perspective, transitions can be understood as crossings between different educational environments, in which changes in spatial organisation and adult–child relationships may disrupt established ways of learning and interacting. The loss or reduction of outdoor and play-based experiences in the first years of primary school has been identified as one of the most visible manifestations of this discontinuity (Oberle et al., 2021). Several studies show that outdoor learning is an integral component of early childhood education contexts but tends to become marginal or reconfigured as non-curricular recreation time in primary school, generating educational discontinuity at the time of transition (Frances et al., 2024).

In parallel, a growing body of research documents the educational value of outdoor education and nature-based pedagogies. Experiences in natural environments have a positive impact on children’s health and well-being, support their personal and social development, and positively influence learning processes (Kiviranta, 2024). Studies suggest that outdoor activities should be integrated into curricula, as they promote more positive attitudes towards school, a stronger sense of responsibility, and the development of transversal skills (Meighan & Rubenstein, 2018). Outdoor education can therefore be conceptualised as a structured pedagogical approach with specific characteristics, yet one that can be integrated into more traditional school contexts (Knight, 2013).

Despite the growing body of research on outdoor education and the well-established literature on transitions, these two fields have largely developed in parallel. Research evidence on the role of outdoor education in supporting adaptation to formal schooling and continuity between learning environments remains fragmented across different research traditions. As a result, outdoor education is rarely examined explicitly as a practice supporting transition. This lack of systematic integration calls for a focused examination of how existing studies conceptualise and document the role of outdoor learning in school transitions.

This study adopts a scoping review as its research design and aims to map and analyse existing research examining the role of outdoor education in supporting transitions from preschool to primary school. The review follows the main methodological guidelines for scoping reviews in the educational field (Peters et al., 2020). The first phase involved defining the research question, which aimed to explore how outdoor education may contribute to continuity and adaptation in school transitions. Subsequently, keywords related to outdoor education (e.g., outdoor learning) were combined with keywords related to transitions (e.g., school transition) to develop structured search strings. These combinations were used to search major international education databases (e.g., EBSCO, Scopus, ERIC) in order to identify relevant studies. Peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2000 and 2025 were included. Studies were required to focus on preschool education and the first years of primary school and to analyse outdoor learning experiences in relation to school transitions. After an initial screening based on titles and abstracts, the most relevant contributions were analysed in full. The following table presents the titles of the selected articles and summarises the contributions of outdoor education to the transition process. Article Outdoor education: “Beyond Traditional School Readiness: How Nature Preschools Help Prepare Children for Academic Success” supports readiness without disadvantage “Nature Preschool Offers School Readiness Skills Comparable to Those of a Typical Preschool” shows equivalence in readiness outcomes “Supporting School Readiness Naturally: Exploring Executive Function Growth in Nature Preschools” strengthens executive functions relevant to transition “Investigating nature-based preschoolers’ gains in early literacy and select executive function skills” supports cognitive and self-regulatory competences “Exploring the effects of a short-term, nature-based preschool experience” highlights short-term benefits for adaptation “Outdoor learning across the early years in Australia: Inconsistencies, challenges, and recommendations” when reduced, it is a source of discontinuity “Outdoor learning environments: easing the transition from the foundation stage to key stage one” is a support for smoother transitions “Nature Play in Primary School: Supporting Holistic Development Through Outdoor Learning” is a pedagogical bridge between phases “Making the invisible visible: the pedagogical affordances of outdoor learning in a nursery and a primary school” shows pedagogical continuity across settings The implications emerging from the review are presented in the following section.

The literature review highlighted that transitions and outdoor education are two well-established fields of research that have largely developed in parallel and are rarely integrated within a common framework. Only a limited number of studies explicitly examine how outdoor education can contribute to the transition from preschool to primary school. First, the reviewed studies indicate that outdoor education strengthens individual competences that function as protective factors during school transitions, including autonomy, self-regulation, socio-relational competences, and attentional capacities (Ernst & Burcak, 2020). In this sense, outdoor education can be understood as a preparatory environment that supports children’s adjustment to new learning contexts. Moreover, studies by Savolainen (2024) and Zamzow and Ernst (2020) show that participation in outdoor education does not negatively affect the development of literacy and numeracy skills. Second, outdoor education appears to contribute to continuity in pedagogical practices across educational levels. While outdoor learning is an integral part of preschool education, it is often reduced in primary school, representing a source of discontinuity in the transition process. The reviewed studies suggest that introducing or maintaining outdoor learning in the first years of primary school can make transitions more fluid (Papadopoulou & Vincent, 2025). One study explicitly describes outdoor education as a pedagogical bridge across key transition points, including the transition from preschool to primary school (Harper et al., 2025). In conclusion, the scoping review highlights that outdoor education supports school transitions by fostering both individual readiness and pedagogical continuity. At the same time, it identifies a clear research gap, as only a limited number of studies conceptualise outdoor education explicitly as a practice supporting transition. This finding points to the need for further research exploring how outdoor education can be intentionally designed as a strategy to support school transitions.

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