Access to nature contributes to the health and well-being of young people, and helps to form a foundation for the development of responsible environmental behavior. The following studies identify some of the benefits that children can gain from connections with nature.
KEY STUDIES
Concentration and Social Achievement
A study following seventeen 7- to 12-year-olds as they moved from run-down urban housing into better homes in better neighborhoods found that the amount of improvement in natural views and more natural yards best predicted which children would show the highest levels of concentration after the move(1). In a Swedish study comparing preschool children using a traditional playground with others whose play area contained a field and orchard, the children with the field and orchard showed significantly greater powers of concentration at the end of the year(2). High school students with more natural features like trees outside classroom and cafeteria windows showed higher standardized test scores, graduation rates and intention to attend college, after controlling for socioeconomic status and other factors(3).
Emotional Coping and Stress Reduction
A study with Finnish adolescents found that they often went to natural areas after upsetting events(4). They said they could relax there, clear their minds, gain perspective on things and sort out whatever troubled them. Natural areas appear to function this way for younger children as well. A study of 337 rural 8 -to 11-year-olds revealed that even when there was a relative abundance of natural surroundings in their lives, more exposure to nature was still better(5).The study found that regardless of a family's socioeconomic status, the greener the home surroundings, the more resilient children appeared to be against stress and adversity. The protective effect of nature was strongest for the most vulnerable children who experienced the highest level of stressful life events.
A Foundation for Stewardship
When people who demonstrate a commitment to protect the natural world reflect on the sources of their actions, they most frequently mention positive experiences of nature in childhood and parents or other role models who show nature’s value(6). By itself, childhood play in nature is associated with recycling, buying green products, voting green and the choice of natural areas for recreation in adulthood(7). The results of a Swiss study suggest that outdoor investigations of nature (rather than indoor study) are the most effective and most popular approach to increase children’s knowledge of biodiversity, especially in easily accessible settings such as school grounds and the local neighborhood(8).
Reduced Symptoms of ADD and ADHD
Children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) function better with nature. Children exhibited fewer ADD symptoms after they walked through a park(9) or played outdoors in green settings, and the greener their surroundings, the fewer symptoms they showed(10). According to a web-based survey of 525 parents of children with ADHD, their children’s symptoms were relieved by leisure activities (other than TV viewing), but especially by leisure in green outdoor settings(11).
Louise Chawla is a professor in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado, where she serves as a member of the executive committee of the Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design.