Results
After reviewing four peer-reviewed studies, thematic analysis revealed four clear and consistent themes that all supported one main message: nature-based learning supports children's social-emotional development.
Children who regularly spent time outdoors develop a stronger emotional bond with the natural world. They become curious, enthusiastic, and began to feel like part of the environment rather than separate from it. This builds empathy and a sense of responsibility toward living things (Rymanowicz et al., 2020; Scogin et al., 2023).
When children participate in outdoor and nature‑based learning often, they demonstrate strong emotional skills, like emotional expression, self‑regulation, and confidence. Educators have observed that outdoor environments support children in recognizing their emotions and making decisions about risk, whether that’s climbing higher or working through challenges with others. Outdoor learning supports well‑being by giving children opportunities to make choices, take on challenges, and feel capable in their own thinking and doing. When children are allowed to explore and solve outdoors, they build a stronger sense of who they are. (Molyneux et al., 2022; Scogin et al., 2023; Tan & Yang, 2022).
Social Relationships
The open, unstructured nature of outdoor play create ideal conditions for children to build friendships. They cooperated, negotiated, shared ideas, and stayed engaged with peers for longer than in indoor settings. Natural "loose parts", sticks, rocks, mud, spark collaborative and imaginative play. The shared experiences that children have with one another outdoors supports relationship-building. (Molyneux et al., 2022; Scogin et al., 2023; Tan & Yang, 2022).
Curiosity & Inquiry
Outdoor environments give children opportunities to explore, ask questions, and investigate their surroundings, which supports curiosity‑driven learning. Educators and caregivers have noticed that children are more interested in exploring natural elements, experimenting with materials, and asking questions when learning takes place outdoors. Because outdoor spaces are open‑ended and flexible, children are able to follow their own interests, return to ideas, and learn through hands-on exploration. Children choose to examine things more closely and wonder aloud as they play, they point things out and show excitement. Learning occurs through their questions, discoveries and sense of wonder. (Rymanowicz et al., 2020; Molyneux et al., 2022).
The Four Studies Reviewed
These four peer-reviewed studies, conducted across multiple countries, formed the foundation of this research.
What Do These Findings Mean?
Nature-based environments encourage children to engage with their surroundings in attentive and respectful ways. This need for awareness reinforces a sense of nature-connectedness and encourages children to see themselves as part of the environment (Scogin et al., 2023).
The outdoors supports children's true autonomy. They can recognize their feelings, take small risks, test their limits, and manage their own play, all conditions that support emotional regulation and growing confidence (Molyneux et al., 2022; Tan & Yang, 2022).
The open-ended materials nature provides, such as sticks, rocks, leaves, water, and mud, invite children to be creative together. These natural "loose parts" encourage cooperation, negotiation, and shared imagination (Johnstone et al., 2022).
1. For educators: Schedule outdoor experiences and activities daily, even in not ideal weather conditions. The benefits of these opportunities are prevalent and valued.
2. For programs: Embed nature-based learning intentionally into weekly curriculum and program plan.
3. For future research: Investigate which specific outdoor environments and activities are most effective, and run larger, longer studies.
4. For training: Invest in professional development that helps educators understand the importance of nature-based learning experiences and confidently support social-emotional learning through these experiences (Molyneux et al., 2022).
Strengths, Limitations & Future Directions
Strengths
Using peer-reviewed literature from multiple countries and different research methods strengthens the credibility of these findings. Similar conclusions across different studies add justification to the results.
Only four studies were included, which is a small number. Most were smaller in scale or specific to one location. The 2015–2025 time limit may have left out some relevant older research. Search terms also had to be revised during the process to increase results.
Future Directions
Future studies should expand the timeframe, include larger groups of participants, and explore specific types of outdoor environments. Primary research, directly observing and interviewing children and educators would produce stronger evidence.