Nature and Young Children

Encouraging Creative Play and Learning in Natural Environments

Ruth Wilson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351373203
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Now in its third edition, Nature and Young Children promotes the holistic development of children by connecting them with nature. It offers practical advice on how to set up indoor and outdoor nature play spaces as well as encouraging environmentally responsible attitudes, values and behaviour in your early childhood setting.

With fully revised chapters in line with recent developments to policy and practice, and brand new material covering Early Childhood Education for Sustainability, the power of pro-nature poetry and philosophical discussions, and children living in urban environments, this book reveals just how important nature play can be in the development of young children.

The user-friendly chapters offer guidance on:

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• alternative settings for nature-focused programs
• culturally sensitive approaches to nature play in early childhood
• the role of the adult in nature-based learning
• using nature play for cross-curricular learning
• environmentally appropriate practices
• integrating nature education and peace education
• health, safety, and risky play.

Highly accessible, detailed and now extensively updated, Nature and Young Children will provide all early years practitioners, teachers and students with a wealth of ideas on how to foster creative play and learning in nature-focused environments while also encouraging positive connections with nature.

1 Nature play

Think of nature and think of play. Combine the two. That’s nature play! For adults, nature play might be kayaking on a river or lake, climbing a mountain, planting peas, or walking barefoot on a sandy beach. For a young child, nature play might be making mud pies, digging in the sand, running through a pile of leaves, or floating leaves and bark in a stream or puddle of water.

Nature play is not just any type of outdoor play, as nature play involves playing with nature, not just in nature (Erickson and Ernst 2011, Harwood and Collier 2017). For young children, nature play represents a remarkable “goodness of fit” (Wilson 2010), as the characteristics of young children mesh extremely well with the play potential of natural environments and natural materials (Gurholt and Sanderud 2016). Nature invites authentic play – the best kind of play for young children! Authentic play is fun, open ended, and freely chosen (Stephens 2009). Authentic play occurs naturally when children and nature are brought together.

While we often think of nature play as occurring outdoors, this type of play can take place indoors, as well. The outdoor environment tends to offer more opportunities for active engagement with nature, but natural materials can be brought indoors to provide another setting for nature play. Think of it as “bringing the outdoors in.” It’s unfortunate that our lives today tend to have clear divisions (walls) between indoors and out. It hasn’t always been this way; and with a little imagination, we can find creative ways to invite more of nature – and hands-on interactions with nature – into our indoor spaces.

The benefits of nature play for children are well documented in the literature. Erickson and Ernst’s (2011) list of benefits include the following:

• ■ Nature play makes kids healthier by stimulating higher levels of physical activity.
• ■ Nature play makes kids smarter by boosting brain development.
• ■ Nature play makes kids feel better by fostering emotional well-being and strengthening social bonds.
• ■ Nature play is good for the Earth by preconditioning children to care about the natural world later in life.

Recent research adds support to these earlier findings. One study involving 173 children and 19 different preschools found that play in an outdoor preschool environment involved more social interaction and included more complex forms of peer play than play indoors (Miranda et al. 2017). Research has also found that outdoor activities can improve on-task behaviors and reduce behavior problems (Swank et al. 2017).

In some nature play programs, parents and children participate together. One such program identified three major outcome areas: enhanced interpersonal relationships, connections to nature, and emotional wellness. The enhanced personal relationships included improved family connections both within and outside of the program and improved connections between children and among families participating in the program. Enhanced connections with nature inspired the parents to engage in nature play outside of and beyond the program. For parents and children, time in nature reduced stress and increased feelings of peacefulness (Ward, Goldingay, and Parson 2017).

Children and childhood

A child, as defined by the dictionary (American Heritage Publishing 2001) is “a person between birth and puberty; an immature person.” Anyone who spends time with children realizes that this definition is fundamentally shallow and incomplete.

Children are busy people. They like to touch, taste, poke, dig, tear, shake, pull, push, and climb. They’re curious and eager to follow the path of curiosity. They’re observant and imaginative – often seeing patterns, shapes, and possibilities that adults rarely notice. Children are intense, sensitive, and highly competent. They’re also philosophical and spiritual (Schein 2017, Wilson and Schein 2017).

Many adults overlook the uniqueness of childhood. They accept the dictionary definition of a child and view the years of childhood as a “transition” period – a time devoted to waiting for the child to mature into an adult. Adults with this view believe it’s their job to prepare children for what they will face in the future. Such adults fail to acknowledge the importance of valuing children for who they really are and the years of childhood as a special time in the lives of individuals.

There’s also a tendency, however, to hold romanticized views of innocent children, especially in their relationship with nature. Some researchers caution against basing nature play programs on this view of children. They believe that a romanticized view neither does justice to the capabilities of children nor honors their right to be meaningfully involved in the dimensions of society that impact them (Elliott and Young 2016). They argue, too, that some efforts to connect children with nature reinforce the false dichotomy between humans and nature. This occurs when early childhood educators use practices in which nature is no more than a “subordinated and objectified other, a resource for play” (Elliott and Young 2016: 60).

Just how young children view nature is hard to determine, but some of their comments suggest that they have little understanding about being a part of nature. One child, for example, when asked if she liked nature, said, “I’ve never been to nature.” Another child, when asked if he could find nature in his back yard, said, “That’s a silly question.” Finding nature, for him, meant going camping or hiking in the woods. One 5-year-old said that he didn’t really like nature because it was boring. For him, nature was something he had to learn about versus something he experienced every day.

One of the goals of nature play is to help children understand that they are a part of nature versus separate from it, and that nature provides the habitat in which we and many other creatures live.

Creative play

An appreciation of nature play requires an understanding of the value of creative play in the life of a young child. In addition to love and protection, what young children need most is the time, place, and materials to engage in authentic play. It’s through play that children learn about themselves and the world around them. It’s through play that they develop a sense of competence and make invaluable discoveries about their social, cultural, and physical environments. Most of what children need to learn during their early childhood years cannot be taught; it’s discovered through play.

While play is a critical avenue for learning during early childhood, it’s also essential to a child’s happiness. In fact, play is almost synonymous with a happy childhood; and the lack of play in an otherwise healthy child can be cause for concern (Siviy 2016). Some adults, however, view creative play as having little value. They may view pretend play as cute or charming, but not as educationally serious as learning to read and write. Adults sometimes wonder: “Aren’t children just wasting their time when engaged in pretend play? Shouldn’t they be learning about the ‘real’ versus ‘imaginary’ world?” The answer is a resounding NO!

The imaginary world of children helps them learn many critical concepts about the world that we call “real.” An essential concept embedded in pretend play is the understanding that one thing can represent something else. A stick can be a magic wand; small stones can be bird eggs; and the children themselves can be veterinarians or wildlife photographers. At first glance, this may not seem significant. Yet, the underlying concepts behind such essential skills as reading, writing, drawing, map making, understanding and expressing ideas, and planning for the future involve our ability to make something stand for (or represent) something else. This ability – so readily developed through creative play – is crucial for later academic success. Children who can readily manipulate symbols in dramatic play are more likely to accept and use the symbols associated with mathematics, reading, and writing (Bilton 2010).

The dichotomy that some people see between play and learning is based on faulty thinking, as play for young children is a path to learning (Bohart, Charner, and Koralek 2015). As teachers and parents, we sometimes need to be reminded that “free play and guided play – together known as playful learning – are pedagogical tools through which children can learn in joyful and conceptually rich ways” (Hassinger-Das, Hirsh-Pasek, and Golinkoff 2017: 46).

We can’t teach the concept of representation; children need to discover and experiment with it on their own. Creative play is the appropriate medium for developing this understanding during the early childhood years. Children gain other concepts and skills from their engagement with creative play, as well. They use their senses, explore their environment, solve problems, and then incorporate what they experience into their internal system of thought.

Some of the social benefits of creative play include learning to share, cooperate, take turns, and negotiate. As children engage in social play, they experience different personalities, temperaments, and ways of doing things. Through this process, they gain valuable insights into themselves and each other. They also learn to see things from another’s perspective.

During pretend peer play, children often help each other concentrate and stay within a character’s boundaries (Stephens 2009). If a child is pretending to be a dog, for example, he or she must stay in “dog character.” Children often remind each other how to do this. Because they find play motivating, children will often exercise great self-control and cooperation with a partner or the group so as not to stop or spoil a play situation.

It’s important for parents and teachers to demonstrate a positive attitude towards imaginative play. Children should never be criticized or discouraged from engaging in pretend play. One child pretending to be a dolphin was reprimanded by a teacher for “acting silly.” Even if it was time to move on to a different activity (e.g. lunch, dismissal, etc.), the child’s play should not have been labeled “silly.” The teacher could have responded in a more appropriate way by saying something like “Dion, you have some interesting ideas about dolphins. Maybe you can tell me more about dolphins tomorrow. Right now, it’s time to wash your hands for lunch.”

Some parents and teachers make another mistake. They notice what a child is doing during creative play and then try to take over or direct the play scenario. Their intentions are to extend the child’s learning – to add more information (facts), more learning outcomes for the child. The adult mistakenly thinks this will increase the richness of the learning episode.

There are times when the adult’s participation in a child’s creative play activity does lead to enhanced learning, but this rarely occurs when the adult takes the “directing role” away from a child. The adult’s attitudes and behaviors should leave the child feeling that he or she is a competent, interesting, and creative individual. Taking over a child-initiated activity does not give children this positive message. While the adult can introduce some props and ideas, the child should be allowed to remain in the role of director. This is especially important for dramatic play and other creative activities. As adults, we should resist any urge we might have to “teach” a child how to play. The child’s brain is motivated to play (Siviy 2016). Evolution seems to have something to do with this.

Research with animals indicates that play – specifically, rough and tumble play – promotes early brain development (Hassinger-Das et al. 2017). Play for young rats primes their brains to be more adaptable later in life (Pellis, Pellis and Himmler 2014). Play in the young rat seems to be especially important for the development of social skills and executive functions (e.g. attention, memory, and planning). Playful rats act more appropriately in social situations than do rats that don’t play (Burgdorf, Panksepp, and Moskal 2011). These findings offer a potential model of how play might help develop children’s social functioning and brain architecture (Hassinger-Das et al. 2017).

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right to play as one of the basic rights of children. As stated in Article 31 of the Convention, children have the right “to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child.” It’s up to adults to protect and support this right for children.

Children and nature

Unless influenced otherwise, young children are fascinated by the natural world. They’re drawn to other living things, especially animals. They reach out to pick flowers, to put their hands in water and sand, and to dig for natural treasures in a mound of dirt. They want to know where animals live, what they eat, and how they protect themselves. Evidence suggests that children also know and experience the natural world differently from how adults do (Bilton 2010). According to Rachel Carson (1956: 42), the child knows the world as being “fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement.” As for adults, Carson (1956: 42) says: “It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.”

Some people are surprised to learn that Carson wrote about children and nature. They know Rachel Carson primarily as a scientist who ushered in the environmental movement with her research and writings on the dangers of pesticides to the natural world. As a scientist, Carson spent a great deal of time in close, objective observation of the physical world around her. But – as reflected in the above passage – Carson also thought about children and their unique way of experiencing the world. She placed great value on children’s way of knowing and the impact of nature as a source of wonder and delight. She advocated frequent opportunities for children to walk in the woods and along the water’s edge in all kinds of weather. And she recognized (through her excursions with her nephew, Roger) that children – even as young infants – possess an acceptance of a world of “elemental things” and that they find great joy and delight in experiencing and exploring the natural world.

While children’s way of knowing or seeing the world differs from the adult’s, it should not be viewed as incorrect or inferior. In fact, it would be well (that is, respectful of children and promoting their holistic development) for adults to honor and celebrate children’s way of knowing the world and give them ample opportunities for playing and exploring in a natural environment.

Young children not only know the world differently from adults, they also do different things in interacting with nature. The natural world for children is not just a scene or backdrop – it’s something to be interacted with (Irvine et al. 2016, Jansson, Sundevall, and Wales 2016). Young children want to do more than look. They want to touch, dig, poke, shake, pound, pour, smell, taste, and “muck around.” They want to explore and experiment. They want to be busy doing something – and it is through such busyness that they learn about the natural world and about themselves.

Many children today are deprived of frequent positive experiences with the natural world. Researchers and child development specialists are concerned and are now investigating the causes and consequences of this “de-naturing of childhood” (Louv 2006). In Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv discusses the “criminalization of natural play,” which he views as both a symptom and a cause of the move from children living immersed in the natural world to their being divorced from that world.

Louv notes that the “de-naturing of childhood” can be attributed to various conditions – some that are cultural or institutional, others that are personal or familial. Cultural and institutional barriers include the growing practice of litigation, trends in education that marginalize direct experience in nature, and the structure of modern cities. Personal or familial barriers include time pressures, fear or safety concerns, and excessive screen time.

Many parents are also caught up in the “waste no time” syndrome. They feel that to get ahead children’s lives should be carefully programmed. Thus, from early on, they enroll their children in such activities as competitive sports, computer camps, and other types of “enrichment activities” (dance, art and music lessons, “early science,” etc.). They also pressure their children to excel in school – with the emphasis on high grades and test scores. “Just playing” in this get-ahead culture, Louv notes, is considered a waste of valuable time.

When children are given time to play, it’s often in a commercialized or computerized environment. Indoor play centers are becoming increasingly popular – Kids’ Cafes, video arcades, “water baby” swimming pools, and climbing structures in shopping malls. Even some nature centers and parks are beginning to develop elaborate indoor exhibits and classrooms – some of which include climbing walls, artificial trees, and computer games.

“Entertainment” for children often replaces creative play – for example, TVs and DVD players in children’s bedrooms, computers and entertainment centers in family rooms, family outings to movie theaters and organized sports events. While these forms of entertainment may not be harmful in themselves, they erode the time and freedom children have for creative play. And this is a problem, as children need creative play to develop in a holistic way. Creative play can’t be hurried or tightly scheduled between completing homework and getting ready for swim lessons.

Too much time in commercialized and computerized environments not only deprives children of time to play, but it also separates them from nature. This is cause for concern, as children need nature – not something to study or look at, but to interact with. And as Louv (2006: 117) says: “It takes time – loose, unstructured dreamtime – to experience nature in a meaningful way.”

Without frequent interactions with nature, children experience what Louv (2006) refers to as “nature-deficit disorder.” This disorder or condition, while not a medical diagnosis, is linked to such conditions as attention difficulties, diminished use of the senses, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses (Louv 2006).

Play in natural environments

The natural environment is an ideal place for children to engage in creative play, as nature has a lot to offer in terms of play potential. Nature is unpredictable, real, and sensory-rich. It’s ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Nature play
• 2 Natural outdoor playspaces
• 3 Bringing the outdoors in
• 4 The role of the adult
• 5 Holistic child development
• 6 Integrated teaching and learning
• 7 Fostering pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors
• 8 Special considerations
• Epilogue
• References
• Index