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Research has strongly supported the theory that childhood development and enrichment are significantly enhanced by greenery in and around the classroom setting (Heerwagen and Orians 2002, Kellert 2002, 2005). The natural landscape and the designed spaces within it play a vital role in empowering children to learn, grow, and thrive.
Research has strongly supported the theory that childhood development and enrichment are significantly enhanced by greenery in and around the classroom setting (Heerwagen and Orians 2002, Kellert 2002, 2005). The natural landscape and the designed spaces within it play a vital role in empowering children to learn, grow, and thrive.
Children use outdoor gardens and educational materials to learn about the world they live in.
Source Image: https://natureexplore.org/its-spring-awaken-your-outdoor-classroom/
Encouraging Curiosity
Encouraging Curiosity
The natural environment provides extensive tactile play and enrichment that encourages hands-on discovery in young children aged 3-6 years. At this age, it is important for children to be engaged with their physical surroundings and to directly experience the environment around them (Bradekamp and Copple 1997). The ever-changing outdoors creates opportunities for “existence-building” activities that nurture individuality, problem-solving, and personal development (Sobel 2017).
Outdoor "risky" play helps children develop confidence and problem-solving.
Image Source: https://www.centennialparklands.com.au/stories/2018/5-reasons-to-get-your-kids-outside-for-nature-play
Building confidence
Building confidence
An outdoor environment presents children with unique experiences and challenges that they must face and create their own solutions for. What can be referred to as “risky” play creates opportunities for young children to develop resilience to new situations despite the chances of injury (Brussoni et. Al 2015). Studies have shown that rural children who live near natural settings exhibit fewer signs of behavioral issues and mental illness as well as higher self-esteem compared to that of peers in different, less green, environments (Wells 2003).
Children academically benefit from hands-on education, especially when they can see the process of their garden's growth.
Image Source: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/fall2021/take-it-outside
nurturing educational development
nurturing educational development
Several experiential findings show that greenness has a significant impact on the academic performance of children. For example, an experiment that provided 25 schools with gardens and 24 without. The two were taught similar garden-based lessons, but it was the students at the variable school that exhibited an improved garden knowledge afterward (Wells et al, 2015). Greenness is also shown to promote academic success in sixth-grade students with improvement shown in reading and math.
SOURCES:
SOURCES:
Bradekamp S, Copple C (1997) Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood education. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Brussoni, Mariana, Rebecca Gibbons, Casey Gray, Takuro Ishikawa, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Adam Bienenstock, Guylaine Chabot et al. (2015). What is the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in children? A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(6), 6423-6454.
Heerwagen JH, Orians GH (2002) The ecological world of children. pp. 29–64. In Kahn PHJ, Kellert SR (eds.) Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Kellert SR (2002) Experiencing Nature: Affective, Cognitive and Evaluative Development. pp. 117–152. In Kahn PH, Kellert SR (eds.) Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press).
Kuo, Ming, Samantha E Klein, Matthew HEM Browning, and Jaime Zaplatosch. “Greening for academic achievement: Prioritizing what to plant and where.” Landscape and Urban Planning 206 (2021).
Sobel D (2017) Wild play: Parenting adventures in the great outdoors. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Wells, N. M., Myers, B. M., Todd, L. E., Barale, K., Gaolach, B., Ferenz, G., et al. (2015). The effects of school gardens on children’s science knowledge: A randomized controlled trial of low-income elementary schools. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 37, 2858–2878. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2015.1112048.
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