Nature-Based Play and Outdoor Learning for Mental Well-Being

Being outside is good for all of us! Outdoor and nature-based play is often the answer for many childhood developmental challenges, including trauma. Both open-ended and planned and guided outdoor learning experiences can have measurable benefits. This article shares activities to get kids outside for nature-based play and learning that supports mental well-being.

Finding “Wild” Spaces

Nature-based play is not at all a new idea. We know that getting kids outside for open-ended play and exploration is good for their physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being. Environmental inequality is not a new concept either. Depending on where we live or go to school, we will or will not have access to natural settings. Where we live or go to school is often socioeconomically driven, but also affects our access to natural spaces as well. Some communities have more green space, while other neighborhoods and schools have limited outdoor learning access.

For the sake of this post let’s imagine that we can all find some “wild” space near our teaching environments. This space could be a a public park, a grove of trees on a sloping boulevard, or just simply a preschool outdoor playscape. Our outdoor spaces—whatever forms they take—are important classrooms for exploration and learning. It is important that we view our outdoor spaces as classrooms and not keep a barrier between brick-and-mortar classrooms and nature. Now, perhaps more than ever, we must find ways to immerse ourselves and our students in natural environments for a felt sense of well-being. Have you heard that drinking water is usually the answer to almost everything that ails us? Well, outdoor and nature-based play is often the answer to many developmental challenges in childhood, including trauma.

An Outdoor Learning Case Study

In 2020, our program spent upwards of 70 percent of our time outdoors. We went outside in ALL weather. We have always valued outdoor play and learning, but it became especially vital during the height of the Covid pandemic. Being outdoors was especially important and when maintaining health and well-being was a difficult task. We had to balance child development and relationships, outdoor play and learning while keeping everyone healthy. Outdoor learning became the MOST valuable thing we could do with our classes. Our setting is urban and residential, but we are near a university campus and several city parks that make for great outdoor class spaces. Our teachers and families reprioritized outdoor learning and, through some trial and error, we figured out how to layer up for long days in a variety of conditions in Minnesota—including very cold temps and snow . . . lots of snow. In weather through all seasons, we spent time in nature, playing and learning.

I’ve read much of the research on the benefits of outdoor play and learning, but after that year I can anecdotally share that the beneficial differences in our setting are measurable when we prioritize outdoor learning. Challenging behavior was less frequent and easier to diffuse; focus and concentration expanded; stamina, resilience, and curiosity grew in physical, cognitive, and emotional capacities. As a result, we did not go back to relegating outdoor time to a planned period of the day, but instead prioritized outdoor learning.

Planned and Guided Outdoor Learning Experiences

While open-ended experiences are primary on my list of beloved outdoor activities, planned and guided outdoor learning experiences have positive impacts, too. Guided activities can offer opportunities for outdoor learning that allow for the development of observation skills, engaged exploration, and creative skills. Here are a few ways to get started with outdoor learning.

Observation

Gather enough clipboards for everyone in your group. Attach a pencil or marker to the board with string. (An alternative is to provide everyone with a notebook or hard-bound journal.) Offer examples of observations in nature and then ask students for ideas of what they could observe to help them formulate ideas about what they will see.

Begin by walking and plan to find a scenic place to sit. Ask the children to draw something that they see as they sit. It can be a blade of grass, an ant, a tree—anything! Encourage them to look for details, to ask questions, to observe closely. Invite them to be aware of their surroundings. Ask them to focus on one thing that they see, but allow them to observe as much as they can. When they have had time to look around and watch their surroundings, you can either share the observations as a group or have the children bring their observations to you. For younger children, I take dictation and write in their journals or on their paper; for older children, I encourage them to write down a single word that falls within their developmental ability. You can invite children to write as much as they are cognitively capable of completing.

Make this a daily practice to develop observation skills, increase focus, and improve fine-motor, language, and literacy abilities. Your students’ skills will cross over between nature and outdoor learning to make these habits a part of their life in all areas.

Exploration

Who doesn’t love a good treasure hunt?

One of our favorite things to do this year has been to hunt for items on our walks and during our outdoor play. Sometimes we draw maps and look for specific items, and other times our hunting is a bit more open-ended. (We have a basic rule of observe, don’t disturb, so kids mostly remember not to uproot living plants or to pull leaves from branches.)

• Find something pointy or poky
• Find something soft
• Find something round
• Find something wet

Being outside is inherently sensory and has a calming effect on the nervous system. This activity helps connect some conceptual understanding of shape, form, and texture to our wandering in a park. Outdoor learning will promote engagement as students focus and develop curiosity about their explorations.

Creation

Using natural materials to make something is meaningful and therapeutic. When children have their hands on natural materials, they strengthen their sense of place and attachment to their environment. Natural materials are also sense-stimulating and can improve motor functions and general physical awareness. Here are some ideas to facilitate creative production in outdoor learning:

• Bring boxes or other small containers along for children to create bug or worm habitats. Make sure that all critters are safely returned to their natural homes.
• Use embroidery thread and a blunt quilter’s needle to make a leaf crown.
• Demonstrate safe whittling using vegetable peelers and let kids sharpen sticks on their own after they practice with you.

As you become more comfortable with outdoor learning and play, you can use these three categories as a frame for your planning: what will we observe, explore, and create today? Making these categories and questions a regular part of learning will be beneficial in all areas of the students’ academics. These questions are useful in nature and beyond.

No matter where you are in the world, there are opportunities to learn, play, grow, and restore ourselves outdoors. Our kids benefit when we provide time for them to outdoor learning and play. Whether outdoor time is open-ended and unstructured or planned and guided, there are many beneficial opportunities for outdoor learning through nature-based play.