Why Forest Preschool

The Benefits of Nature-Based Learning

Literature Review

Indicators of Nature Deficit in Children’s Lives

In Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv (2005/2008) [1] coined the term “nature deficit disorder” to reflect the change and quality of time children spend in the natural world. Especially the effect that lack of nature plays on a child’s developing senses and on their health.

Lack of outdoor experiences also limits the type of experiential activities that impact children’s brain development [2]. There is a growing evidence documenting the numerous benefits to child development from spending time outdoors [1,3,4,5]. Yet children today spend considerably less time playing outdoors than their mothers did as children [6].

Increase in obesity in children

Childhood obesity has increased over the past 30 years according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Results from the 2021-2023 NHANES indicate 21.1% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese compared to 5.2% in 1971-1974 [7].

Studies show that obesity in childhood has a high probable influence on being overweight as an adult [8].

The alarming trends of an increase of obesity in young children have prompted several studies to determine the physical activity levels of preschool children. Although preschool children are often equated with being active, studies show that 89% of preschoolers are characterized as sedentary during the preschool day. As would be expected, preschoolers are more active during outdoor play, but even here it depends on various circumstances such as objects for play, open space available, social constraints, as well as teacher intervention [9] (Brown, McIver, Pfeiffer, Dowda, Addy, & Pate, 2009).

Barriers to physical activity, often associated with lack of time spent outdoors, include inadequate facilities, weather-related policies, teacher attitudes and behavior, a focus on academics, economic and budgetary issues, and safety and injury concerns [10] (Copeland, Sherman, Kendeigh, Kalkwarf, & Saelens, 2012).

If children are not active at preschool, then what happens when they get home? Another factor that contributes to obesity in young children is use of technology. One study connected watching more than two hours per day of TV and videos by preschool children with a higher risk of being overweight. They also found that 36% of preschool children exceed the two hours per day norm [11] (Mendoza, Zimmerman, & Christakis, 2007).

Safety concerns

Other fears that encroach on children playing in natural areas are the looming dangers that may be thought of as more risky than traditional playgrounds. However, Tim Gill (2005) suggests that: “The uncertainty and variation inherent in natural settings is part of what attracts us to them in the first place. Indeed in evolutionary terms, it is the unsurpassed ability of Homo sapiens to adjust to changes in our habitat that has, for better or worse, led us to be the dominant species on the planet…Which means that a bit of danger and uncertainty is actually good for you" (p. 2).

Our risk averse society is another example of our disconnection with nature, our attempt to control nature rather than understand it. Claire Warden (2010) distinguishes between hazards and risks in a natural play area. It is the role of the teachers to remove the hazards in an outdoor environment, but not the challenges, “Be hazard aware, but not risk averse” (p. 107), which suggests being safe enough, but not safe as possible. She also suggests that teachers should include the children in the process of assessing risk in outdoor areas. “Children are better at managing the risks in natural settings than we give them credit for” (Gill, 2005, p.5). Many of the attitudes toward risk, although seeming to try and protect children, implicitly assume that the child is not capable, “that children [are] fragile, incompetent, accident-prone, unable to deal with adversity and incapable of learning how to look after themselves or to manage their own safety” (Gill, 2007, p. 38). The problem with this assumption is that children will never learn how to manage risk without being confronted with it.

Indicators of the Benefits of Nature

Review of the literature about the benefits of nature for children illuminates positive effects from spending time in natural areas. Leading researchers have discovered health benefits, increased creative play and reduction in crime and aggression in urban areas, improved academic performance, and increased environmental awareness (Chawla, 1999; Faber Taylor & Kuo, 2006; Kuo, Bacaicoa, Sullivan, 1998; Kuo & Sullivan, 2001a, 2001b; Louv, 2005/2008; Tanner, 1980; Wells, 2000; Wells & Lekies, 2006). In addition, current brain research (Jensen, 2008; Medina, 2008) can be linked to nature experiences having a positive effect on brain development in young children.

Health benefits

Studies have provided evidence that the way people feel in pleasurable natural environments improves a person’s quality of life (Faber Taylor & Kuo, 2006; Kuo et al. 1998; Louv, 2005/2008). Early experiences with the natural world have been positively linked with better health, emotional stability and creativity (Faber Taylor, Wiley, Kuo, & Sullivan, 1998; Fjortoft, 2001; Louv, 2005/2008).

In a study that looked at the physical development of kindergarten children in Sweden, children that played in a natural forest area one to two hours per day were compared with children that played in a typical playground for the same amount of time. The motor development of the group that played in the natural area improved significantly more over a period of nine months than did the other group in all areas of motor development except flexibility, but particularly better in balance and coordination abilities (Fjortoft, 2001). The natural area afforded more opportunities for functional, symbolic, and construction play.

Studies show a reduction in symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) when children are given the opportunity to play in natural areas (Faber Taylor, Kuo, & Sullivan, 2001a).

Environment based education

Environment based education research has shown significant improvement in student academic performance when environmental activities are integrated into the curriculum (Glenn, 2000; Lieberman & Hoody, 1998). Case studies of five individual schools (throughout the United States) that adopted environmental education as the central focus of their academic program showed improvement (often dramatic) in reading, math, science and social studies scores (Glenn, 2000). In another study of 40 schools, other observed benefits of EIC (”Environment as an Integrating Context”) programs included “reduced discipline and classroom management problems, increased engagement and enthusiasm for learning, and greater pride and ownership in accomplishments” (Lieberman & Hoody, 1998, p. 1). Students become actively involved in the community and increase their confidence and desire to learn (Volk & Cheak, 2003).

Nature and brain development

And finally, nature experiences can be positively linked to early brain development, especially since 85% of the brain develops in the preschool years (Bruner, Goldberg, & Kot, 1999). Current research suggests there are several principles that are important to brain development, and these can be experienced in the natural world. These include the need for exercise, what children attend to, stimulation of all the senses, and exploration (Medina, 2008). Eric Jensen (2008) suggests that enriched environments are the cornerstones of a brain-based classroom. “Enrichment is a biological response to a positive, contrasting environment in which measurable, global and synergistic changes occur” (Jensen, 2008, p. 199). And the natural world provides this type of environment best.