An early childhood education conference has heard about the importance of outdoor play.

Early Childhood Ireland held its annual conference in Dublin earlier.

A recent study found that three quarters of children spend less time outdoors than prisoners.

One of today’s speakers, Educational Consultant Claire Warden, says the majority of children need to be spending more time in the fresh air.

She said: “So you’ve got to ask yourself, why are we saying that children can’t go outside when other people, whether it be prisoners or people in residential homes, they are all allowed to go outside.

“But we’ve got this really odd perception that children shouldn’t be outside playing, whereas in actual fact it’s hard-wired, it’s what they need to do.”