Learn what today’s children are missing, why, what we can do about it, and where we could end up.

Chrysalis Nature School preschool benefits childhood play loose parts monarch garden outside outdoor school forest kindergarten

find what's been missing:

Today's children are missing out on their most precious resource.

a connection with nature.

A strong bond with nature as a child has a multitude of benefits. 

Chrysalis Nature School preschool benefits childhood play loose parts monarch garden outside outdoor school forest kindergarten
Chrysalis Nature School preschool benefits childhood play loose parts monarch garden outside outdoor school forest kindergarten
Chrysalis Nature School preschool benefits childhood play loose parts monarch garden outside outdoor school forest kindergarten

Children need nature in their lives.

Interactions with nature can:

Relieve Stress

Increase Resilience

Boost Health

Advance Thinking

Promote Relationships

Restore Attention

Children want nature in their lives, too.

"For children, being in the garden is something magical"

(Capra, F., 2005)

But they aren't getting enough of it.

Why not?

- Children lack the time to spend in nature.

- Parental concerns impede children's time in nature.

- Access to nearby outdoor spaces restricts children's time in nature.

Let's get them into nature, then.

Q:

But how do we overcome the barriers between children and nature?

How do we give them the time?

And ensure their safety?

And create the access to nature?

Chrysalis Nature School preschool benefits childhood play loose parts monarch garden outside outdoor school forest kindergarten

A:

nature schools

Specifically, nature schools that:

1. Serve children between 2 years and 6 years of age,

2. Prioritize unstructured outdoor play.

3. Promote accessible natural areas.

4. Provide opportunities for environmental activism.

what are the results?

This childhood connection with nature

leads to adults that

Chrysalis Nature School preschool benefits childhood play loose parts monarch garden outside outdoor school forest kindergarten

help save the planet.

references

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Amicone, G., Petruccelli, I., De Dominicis, S., Gherardini, A., Costantino, V., Perucchini, P., & Bonaiuto, M. (2018). Green Breaks: The Restorative Effect of the School Environment’s Green Areas on Children’s Cognitive Performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1579.

Asah, Bengston, Westphal, Gowan. (2017). Mechanisms of Children’s Exposure to Nature: Predicting Adulthood Environmental Citizenship and Commitment to Nature Based Activities. Environment & Behavior. 1-30.

Barrera-Hernández, L. F., Sotelo-Castillo, M. A., Echeverría-Castro, S. B., & Tapia-Fonllem, C. O. (2020). Connectedness to nature: Its impact on sustainable behaviors and happiness in children. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00276

 

Berk, L. (2006). Child Development, Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon

Burdette, H., Whitaker, R. (2005). Resurrecting free play in young children:  Looking beyond fitness and fatness to attention, affiliation, and affect. Archives Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine159, 46-50. DOI: doi:10.1001/archpedi.159.1.46

Capra, F. (2005). “Preface: How Nature Sustains the Web of Life.” Stone, M. K., & Barlow, Z. (Eds.) Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (p. xiii-xv). San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books. 

Chawla, L. (2020). Childhood nature connection and constructive hope: A review of research on connecting with nature and coping with environmental loss. People and Nature, 2(3), 619–642. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10128

 

Chawla, L. & Litt (2013). Improving Health and Wellness through Access to Nature.  American Public Health Association. Policy # 20137. 

Ernst, J. (2017). Exploring Young Children’s and Parents’ Preferences for Outdoor Play Settings and Affinity toward Nature. International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education, 5(2), 30–45.

Faber Taylor, A., Wiley, A., Kuo, F.E., Sullivan, W.C. (1998). Growing up in the inner city: green spaces as places to grow. Environment & Behavior, 30, 3–27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916598301001

Johnson SA, Snow S, Lawrence MA and Rainham DGC (2019). Quasi-Randomized Trial of Contact With Nature and Effects on Attention in Children. Front. Psychol. 10:2652.

Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefit of Nature. Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169–182.

Kuo, M., Barnes, M., & Jordan, C. (2019). Do Experiences With Nature Promote Learning? Converging Evidence of a Cause-and-Effect Relationship. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 305.

Louv, R. (2006). The Best of Intentions: Why Johnnie and Jeannie don’t play outside anymore. Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature deficit disorder. (pp. 114 – 144). Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books.

The Nature of Americans – a 2019 study of families’ barriers and access to nature. https://natureofamericans.org/

Nicholson, S. (1971). How not to cheat children: The Theory of Loose Parts. Landscape Architecture, 62, 30-34.

Ohly, H., Gentry, S., Wigglesworth, R. et al. 2016. A systematic review of the health and well-being impacts of school gardening: Synthesis of quantitative and qualitative evidence. BMC Public Health, 16: 286. 

Sobel, D. (2008). Global Climate Change Meets Ecophobia. In Childhood and nature: Design principles for educators. essay, Stenhouse Publishers.

Sobel, D. (2008) “Global Climate Change meets Ecophobia” Childhood and Nature, Portland, ME:  Stenhouse(read pages 144-151). 

Sobel, D., Stires, A., Bailie, P. E., Fritz, R. W., Finch, K., & Kenny, E. K. (2016). Nature preschools and Forest Kindergartens: The Handbook for Outdoor Learning. Redleaf Press.

Taylor, A. F., & Butts-Wilmsmeyer, C. (2020). Self-regulation gains in kindergarten related to frequency of green schoolyard use. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 70, 101440. 

van Dijk-Wesselius, J.E., Maas, J., Hovinga, D.A., van Vugt, M., & van den Berg, A.E. (2018). The impact of greening schoolyards on the appreciation, and physical, cognitive and social-emotional well-being of schoolchildren: A prospective intervention study. Landscape and Urban Planning

Sue Waite, Fatima Husain, Berenice Scandone, Emma Forsyth & Hannah Piggott (2021): ‘It’s not for people like (them)’: structural and cultural barriers to children and young people engaging with nature outside schooling, Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, DOI:10.1080/14729679.2021.1935286

Wells, N. & Lekies, K. (2006). Nature and the Life Course: Pathways from Childhood Nature Experiences to Adult Environmentalism. Children, Youth and Environments, 16(1), 1-24. (read pages 13-15)

 Wells, N. M., & Evans, G. W. (2003). Nearby Nature: A Buffer of Life Stress among Rural Children. Environment and Behavior, 35(3), 311–330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916503035003001

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