Play is learning for children. There is no better place for children to learn than outside, and no better play resource than nature. Playing outside is one of the most important lessons that children can learn in their early years. Children naturally benefit greatly from developing a connection to and appreciation for the natural environment. The role of outdoor play that we experienced as children is being forgotten in our structured, busy, and technologically advanced world.
While nature play infrastructure expands, new research from Australia indicates that teachers require additional training on how to best connect nature play areas to the curriculum and children’s learning.
Primary schools are sprouting all sorts of nature play environments, from tree-branch tepees to bush tucker gardens, mud kitchens, and even functional fire pits, in an effort to better connect primary students with the outdoors.
However, as nature play infrastructure expands, new research from the University of South Australia indicates that teachers require additional training on how to best connect nature play areas to the curriculum and children’s learning.
Nature-based play and learning have so much potential for learning and wellbeing – both for students and teachers. But we must find ways to support teachers to upskill and feel confident in delivering learning opportunities in nature.
Nicole Miller
Conducted in partnership with Nature Play SA, the Australian first study found that while all teachers believe that nature-based play and learning can deliver huge benefits for children, seven out of 10 teachers felt that their knowledge and confidence was limiting their ability to fully embrace these opportunities at school.
Surveying teachers in 50 South Australian schools, the study found that the benefits of nature-based play and learning for children included:
- better mental health (98%)
- improved cognitive development (96%)
- learning about risk-taking (96%)
- spending time outdoors/in nature (96%).
Barriers to adopting nature-based play and learning for teachers included:
- limited knowledge and confidence about how to incorporate into learning or how to operate the class outside (68%)
- a crowded curriculum restricted their ability to adopt new learning (64%)
- a lack of understanding/support from others in the school (38%).
Australian statistics indicate that less than a quarter of children aged 5-14 achieve the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day and spend just over two hours each day sitting or lying down for screen-based activities.
Lead researcher and Ph.D. candidate, Nicole Miller, says the importance of nature-based play and learning for children cannot be underestimated. She strongly advocates for schools to support professional development opportunities to develop nature-based teaching and learning skills.
“There is widespread concern that children are not spending enough time in nature and, as a result, that they may be missing out on the potential benefits that nature has to offer – both for wellbeing and learning,” Miller says.
“Emerging evidence indicates that nature-based play and learning can improve children’s social skills, learning, physical health, and wellbeing.
‘While lots of schools are creating wonderful nature play areas, many teachers feel underprepared and uncertain about how to use these spaces to maximize teaching and learning opportunities aligned with the curriculum.
“For teachers in the know, nature-based play and learning are incredible. For example, cooking damper on an outdoor fire can encompass a range of curriculum skills – maths and measurement of ingredients, essential fire and safety skills, literacy, and sequencing skills from the recipe, as well as resourcefulness in finding the best sticks to use as skewers. But simple activities can equally deliver benefits: using sticks to demonstrate how fractions are part of a whole can demonstrate problem-solving in a hands-on way and help children better grasp more complex maths concepts.”
“Nature-based play and learning have so much potential for learning and wellbeing – both for students and teachers. But we must find ways to support teachers to upskill and feel confident in delivering learning opportunities in nature.”
“Training, education, and support at the school level is essential for teachers to take the next step, but so too are system-level approaches to consider how nature-based learning can be formally included into the curriculum. Mitigating these barriers must be a focus to ensure children are able to access nature-based play and learning opportunities at school.”
