Advantages of nature play on the development of children
The advantages of children interacting with the natural environment have been promoted to early childhood educators and families of children alike, with theorists such as Froebel (1896) encouraging for children to be acquainted with the nature and their fellow creatures. With the development of the world into highly constructed environments Louv (2000) suggests that children are prone to suffering “nature deficit disorder” from the lack of connection with the native outdoor environment and action should be taken to reacquaint children with nature. The goal of this review is to offer clarity on how connectedness with the earth can assist the holistic growth of children and to analyse the …show more content…
(2011) compared the occurrence and frequency of types of play in two metropolitan Sydney early childcare centres, one featuring natural outdoor elements and the other with a synthetic environment, to determine which offered the greater volume and opportunity for cognitive function. Through observation and data collection it was found that the natural outdoor space delivered significantly more potential for children’s learning as the natural world “provides a richer environment for learning and influences children’s opportunities for social interactions and nature play” (Dowdell et al., 2011). The children in a natural play space also maintained participation in activities for greater periods of time which allowed for richer and deeper learning and demonstrated the unlimited potential of nature to be a place where “there is always something new for children to discover” (Davis, 2010), whereas the synthetic play space showed a high number of children engaging in high risk behaviours. Although this study was small and objective, it the natural environment was found to give the children opportunities to enriched learning possibilities by providing them with a greater variety of elements for exploration and investigation and a place where children could contribute and make a mark on the …show more content…
The connection with nature and the environment offers a peaceful, calm, and relaxing to escape stress, feel greater happiness and support the mental health for children. Play in a natural environment was frequently identified when asked where children where the associated feeling of being relaxed, calm, and comfortable. Similarly Louv (2010) described nature as an environment which calmed and focused yet delivered excitement to the senses. Nature is a place where we can outlet the emotions within and it provides a release for the mind. The presence of “Trees, naturalized habitats, and gardens offer benefits for many dimensions of children’s well-being” (Chawla, 2015, p. 446) and these advantages should provoke greater thought and influence the development of the outdoor environment in child care
The advantages of children interacting with the natural environment have been promoted to early childhood educators and families of children alike, with theorists such as Froebel (1896) encouraging for children to be acquainted with the nature and their fellow creatures. With the development of the world into highly constructed environments Louv (2000) suggests that children are prone to suffering “nature deficit disorder” from the lack of connection with the native outdoor environment and action should be taken to reacquaint children with nature. The goal of this review is to offer clarity on how connectedness with the earth can assist the holistic growth of children and to analyse the …show more content…
(2011) compared the occurrence and frequency of types of play in two metropolitan Sydney early childcare centres, one featuring natural outdoor elements and the other with a synthetic environment, to determine which offered the greater volume and opportunity for cognitive function. Through observation and data collection it was found that the natural outdoor space delivered significantly more potential for children’s learning as the natural world “provides a richer environment for learning and influences children’s opportunities for social interactions and nature play” (Dowdell et al., 2011). The children in a natural play space also maintained participation in activities for greater periods of time which allowed for richer and deeper learning and demonstrated the unlimited potential of nature to be a place where “there is always something new for children to discover” (Davis, 2010), whereas the synthetic play space showed a high number of children engaging in high risk behaviours. Although this study was small and objective, it the natural environment was found to give the children opportunities to enriched learning possibilities by providing them with a greater variety of elements for exploration and investigation and a place where children could contribute and make a mark on the …show more content…
The connection with nature and the environment offers a peaceful, calm, and relaxing to escape stress, feel greater happiness and support the mental health for children. Play in a natural environment was frequently identified when asked where children where the associated feeling of being relaxed, calm, and comfortable. Similarly Louv (2010) described nature as an environment which calmed and focused yet delivered excitement to the senses. Nature is a place where we can outlet the emotions within and it provides a release for the mind. The presence of “Trees, naturalized habitats, and gardens offer benefits for many dimensions of children’s well-being” (Chawla, 2015, p. 446) and these advantages should provoke greater thought and influence the development of the outdoor environment in child care