Educated by Mother Nature. Why Nature is important to a childs holistic development.

Educated by Mother Nature. Why Nature is important to a child's holistic development. 

Nature is regarded as all products of the earth such as plants, landscapes and animals. From a very young age we have a natural instinct to play and explore. (Wilson. 2017)  For the context of this blog I will be discussing wellbeing for children in the context of nature and how nature can help develop children holistically.  It will also be looking at current stresses and barriers for children today that could impact these benefits.

Play for a child is the ability to be free and participate in an activity that makes them feel happy and in the moment.  Within these moments children can become imaginative constructive and gain a sense of independence.  When playing outdoors and within nature it can give us the opportunity to develop and understanding and appreciation for nature and life. (Wilson. 2017) 

As a child I remember my mum telling me go out and play just so I can get from under her feet. I would spend hours in the forestry which set foot right outside my doorstep. The rule was to stay in groups and be home before it got dark. Not once did I complain about going outside no matter what the weather. I moved out of that house when I was 5 😲 but I returned every week so I could play in the forest with my friends. Taking that into consideration I'm not sure if times have changed where we now live in a world that is obsessed with safety or if my mum believed in the same beliefs I have in nature today, which are highlighted as headings throughout this blog;  either way I am forever grateful for being given those opportunities as a child. 

(Wilson. 2017. pg 10)

I remember was exploring the woods with my older sister, picking blue bottles flowers for my mum to make her feel happy and creating dens amongst the trees with wood we found and mums old curtains (which she didn't know I sneaked out of the cupboard).

Myself and friends would sit on logs and tell each other stories, most of the time scary ones or we would speak about the things we had going on at home. We would climb trees, play chase and hide and seek, but we always went in pairs because we were so young and we had created our own fears from our scary stories we made up. Its nature that made play special for me; sure my friends could come over and play but nature had something I could not get from home. Freedom. 

 (Louv. 2005. pg7) 

what we can learn from being outdoors - The benefit to ones self 

Society has a growing level of stress due to work, responsibilities, finances, relationships and responsibilities as an adult, but this doesn't mean for a child levels of stress is any less. (Wilson,2017) Children of school age are woken at an alarm, rushed to get dressed, rushed to eat breakfast, rushed to get to school by the parent who is already late for work, rushed into class by the teacher who is trying to get control of 30 already hyper stressed 4 year olds ……. And all this before 9am  💥💥😓

Being outdoors can allow for a sense of restorativeness. It can have the ability to take us away from stresses at home and from society demand. (Wilson. 2017) Nature has the ability to provide a child with a place of safety and peace away from ruinous families or violent societies. (Louv. 2005)

(Louv. 2005) 

Benefits

• Increases physical activity ⇝ Increased endorphins ⇝ Happy Hormones = Happy Child = Happy Parent
• lower BMI
• reduced rates of obesity
• increased longevity 
• Restores positive moods  ⇝ restore concentration = greater learning 
• Experiential Learning ⇝ discovering ⇝ questioning ⇝ understanding
• Social Development ⇝ exploring with friends & family ⇝ understanding cultures 

• Enhances Creativity and imagination ⇝ provides free resources such as branches to invent dens, sand to build cities.  Can help a child learn and build upon their views of the world (Wilson . 2017) 
• Naturalistic intelligence ⇝ develops sensory skills ⇝ natural care for nature ⇝ awareness ⇝ ability to adopt t o new knowledge of the world and have an understanding of ecological happenings. (Gardner. 1999) 
• Promotion of a positive Spiritual and wellbeing mentality ⇝ being connected with ones self and have an understanding of life goals physically and spiritually. 
• Promotes a natural understanding and interest in natural history.
• Scaffold Learning throughout life 
• Develops an understanding of behaviour and flow of learning through play outdoors - fast pace for example playing chase with friends in a forest compared to mindfulness activities such as slow flow paced learning: for example when sat on a log examining a leaf and becoming engrossed in deep thoughts and wonderment.
• Its free (proving accessibility) even a back yard
• It can captivate all aspects of cross curriculum. 

(Wilson. 2017) (Louv.2005) (Public Health England. 2014) (Chawla. 2015)

Experiential Learning

Nature provides unlimited opportunities for hands on learning. Children will draw up their own conclusion of ideas and thoughts whilst in nature and will test their theories.

An personal example was when my son believed sand would change the direction of the water brought in by waves on a beach..... he spent hours building a fort before the water hit. He used his creativity to build the fort, he believed his theory and when the fort came crashing down he questioned me as to why. learning new information about sand and force he was able to reflect and try again. At the beach children can learn about animals in the sea as seen in the pictures below. 

The picture below you can see my teenage daughter with friends camping out, building their own place to sleep for the night. they used logs and materials and worked as a team. they had such a great time and got to roast marshmallows at the end of the day. 

Risk Taking

Children like risk. Nature provides them with opportunities to take risks, be bold challenge themselves and be free of worry. This type of environment provides the opportunity to reflect upon actions and understand the risks of every day life through experiences, such as minor falls, cuts and bruises. 

Spirituality and mindfulness & Outdoor appreciation

(Smith etal. 2015)

There is no definitive definition of spirituality but for me spirituality is being able to be at peace and in a moment where I'm in awe and wonder of my surroundings and my mind is so clear that momentarily the stresses of everyday life seem to have disappeared. I experience these moments when I'm sat on a mountain and I can hear nothing but birds and the wind passing by and I can see the hustle of life before me or when I'm at a beach watching the waves crash in, by a lake admiring the stillness of water and the reflection of light. Its all these things that are provided by nature that put us in a state of mindfulness of our surrounds and being at one with our environment. These moments cannot be felt at home when, at work or in day to day rushing. It's in these moments I can take time to think of myself of who I am and reflect on my life.  As we age we are faced with many of life's hurdles, nature connectivity can help restore our minds and refresh us for new challenges. (Louv. 2005) For children this is essential, as we challenge them from a very young age, facing changes in environments such as schools, going from play time to quiet time, school life to home life. it can provide a child with the opportunity to restore and reflect and become connected with nature, providing emotional and cognitive development. Mother nature is the world's natural therapy. (Louv. 2012)

Barriers that are disconnecting children with nature. 

~Luther Standing Bear(c.1868-1939) ~ (Louv. 2005)

Accessibility

In my personal experience over the past 30 years, outdoor resources, space and green areas are lessening and parents with high demands in work or financially, can't take time out to go to such places without agreeing time off or finding the funding to do such activities. (Public Health England. 2014) (Playwales.org. 2013)

Parental Involvement

A great part of being outdoors is the sense of freedom away from parents however this is not always the case. Having parents involved in outdoor activities can encourage children to be out doors. At a young age this is an advantage to provide your child with some security if needed while outdoors, and eventually the child can learn to explore alone. Parents can also encourage children to go outdoors even if it's as simple as the back garden. 

Parents can be responsible for the accessibility, giving permission to play outdoors, the time to allow the child to play outdoors and can provide or deny resources to play outdoors.  As a parent the benefits to being outdoors can be taken just as much as it can be given. It is the parent's responsibility to nurture the child's creativity and independence. (Playwales.org. 2013)

Being outdoors is beneficial to the parent's wellbeing as well as the child's. The benefits out outdoors doesn't stop at a certain age, however the experiences may differ, as explained believed by Piajet. (Mcleod. 2018). With less accessibility this is not easy without the help of parents, for example taking their child to outdoor spaces to play freely but not to interfere with play unless the child wants them to. 

Over protected Parents 

Parents fear will many aspects of the outdoor world, from strangers, traffic, crimes within society and the risks outdoors possess itself such as falls and rivers. (Louv. 2005). Parents may feel they are protecting their child from risks however health risks then become an issue. (Louv. 2005)

Digital Technology

Technology is everywhere and in everyone's day to day life. Homes can't function today without wifi connection in most places. Whilst technology is an assistant to get more done in a single day it's also used to entertain children rather than getting outdoors to explore. The words go out and play aren't heard as much as decades ago, instead you hear go and play on your computer, or ipad, or phone (hands up I'm guilty of these words myself at times).  Whilst digital technology holds a purpose in many aspects of life however I truly believe its impacting the way in which children interact with the outdoors as agreed by Louv who discusses nature deficit disorder in 2005. There are many reasons that can lead to nature deficit disorder, so it cannot be pinned just to technology however if not controlled monitored and used in the correct manor it can impact the time spent outdoors.

(Ofcom.org. 2017)

The stats pictured above were published by Ofcom in 2017 which astonishingly confirms the average amount of time children spend in front of TV's, Ipad, phones. this time can arguably be spent outdoors. The responsibility then lies on the parents to encourage and nurture a child's needs for nature and monitor the time spent on digital technology.

To conclude nature holds great benefits to allow children to explore and nourish holistically. It has a positive impact on their wellbeing and development as an individual in later life. However, it has been identified by research and government, that many barriers are effecting children's accessibility to nature and must be the responsibility of the parent, schools and society to work together to prevent children from losing out on these benefits.

(Wilson. 2017) (Louv.2005) (Public Health England. 2014) (Chawla. 2015) (Ofcom.org.2017)

References

Chawla, L. (2015). Benefits of Nature Contact for Children. Journal of Planning Literature, 30(4), pp.433-452.

Cole, M. (2018). Soviet developmental psychology. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, pp.76-99.

Gardner, H. (1999). Intelligence reframed. New York,: Basic Books.

Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

Louv, R. (2012). The nature principle. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

Mcleod, S. (2018). Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development | Simply Psychology. [online] Simplypsychology.org. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].

Ofcom.org.uk. (2017). Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report. [online] Available at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/108182/children-parents-media-use-attitudes-2017.pdf [Accessed 6 Dec. 2018].

Playwales.org (2013). The role of an adult in play. Wales: Welsh Government.

Public Health England (2014). Local action on health inequalities:   Improving access to   green spaces. London: UCL Institute of Health and Equality.

Robson, S. and Flannery Quinn, S. (2015). The Routledge international handbook of young children's thinking and understanding. 2nd ed. Ringgold Inc, p.1.

Smith, A., Mense, D., Stephens, K., Parrott, L., Dixon, S., Guthrie, W., Cummings, L., Fogarty, L., Sullivan, D. and Wilkins, P. (2015). NCAGT 41ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE  GIFTED EDUCATION: AIG: At the Heart of North Carolina. Swansboro, p.1.

Sisson, J.H. & Lash, M. 2017, "Outdoor Learning Experiences Connecting Children to Nature", YC Young Children, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 8-16.

Wilson, R. (2018). Nature and young children. 3rd ed. London: Routledge, pp.2, 3, 5, 9,13, 15 , 59-71, 97.