The Swedish preschools offer full-day programmes for children aged from 1-6 years. They have a long tradition of outdoor education and a curriculum that specifi es goals concerning the environment, the nature and democratic values. The national curriculum especially stresses the importance of children’s infl uence in the daily activities and the task to promote gender equity for girls and boys, and for their teachers. In this article, we will fi rst describe the specifi c task for Swedish pre-schools, as it is stated in the national curriculum. Then we will describe a theme-based project about life, hens and eggs from Långvik’s preschool outside Stockholm, Sweden, and a research project with a gender perspective on outdoor education from Mälardalen University. Finally, we point out the very important role that teachers play, and thus suggest reformed teacher education programmes incorporating questions linked to education for sustainable development and to the importance of children’s infl uence and participation.