Connecting Children to Nature

Spending time in nature has many positive benefits for all ages. A young child’s connection with nature can be simple as sitting under a tree, listening to the chirping of crickets or planting a seed.

Try these simple tips from Project Learning Tree’s Environmental Experiences for Early Childhood to help connect your students to nature.

• Provide a variety of learning opportunities for auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners.
• Provide a variety of ways for children to share what they have learned (e.g., drawing pictures, dictating information to an adult).
• Allow children to touch the physical objects.
• Provide a variety of books, pictures, and recordings, such as birdcalls and nature sounds.
• Label natural objects.
• Call on all the senses when observing nature.
• Embrace the knowledge you have.
• Model research skills – when you discover something unfamiliar, say, “I don’t know. Can we answer that question by ourselves or do we need a book?” Find answers together.
• Participate with the children – be a scientist and record your own observations. Be an artist and sketch along with them.
• Rediscover your own sense of wonder – share your favorite parts of nature and your favorite nature books with the children. Your enthusiasm will spread.
• Model care and respect for the natural environment – touch plants and animals gently. Return animals to the places you found them. Carefully replace logs and stones.
• Bring nature inside – collect and display natural objects and use them to enhance art, writing, math and play.
• Begin with simple outdoor experiences and expand from there – start by exploring right outside the classroom using simple equipment familiar to your children. As children become more comfortable being outdoors, they will naturally want to spend time playing outdoors.
• Be an enthusiastic model – your attitude is contagious!

Research shows many positive benefits to spending time in nature and that it is an important part of a child’s overall well-being. Children who have opportunities to play and learn in nature are more likely to:

• Handle challenges and problems more capably.
• Be more physically active, healthy, aware of nutrition, and less likely to be obese.
• Are more cooperative with other children.
• Have better mental and emotional health.
• Have a greater appreciation of the arts, music, history, and literature.
• Have higher self-esteem.
• Be happier and smarter.
• Are more creative.
• Feel more capable and confident.
• Are good problem solvers.
• Choose science or a science related subject as a career.
• Become better informed and environmentally aware adults.