Why our kids need nature + the natural world needs our children.

It’s fair to say that time in nature and fostering a sense of connection with the natural world is one of the most under-rated things we can do to help our children grow into healthy and happy adults. There’s a lot of clever marketing for the latest toys and gadgets and, in the face of this, the simplicity of outdoor play seems to be often overlooked.

If we take a moment to think about why outdoor play matters, it intuitively makes a lot of sense. Throughout most of our evolutionary history, humans have been intricately connected to the natural world and outdoors was the primary physical environment in which we spent our time. For example, Homo Sapiens (or modern humans) are thought to have evolved about 300 000 years ago. Yet the Industrial and Agricultural revolutions only took place around 12 000 and 200 years ago respectively, while the Digital revolution commenced within the last 50 years. So, for the vast majority of our history, the simple fact is we spent most of our days outdoors. In fact, if we shrunk our evolutionary history down to a single day, the Agricultural revolution didn’t occur until after 11PM and the Digital Revolution until a few seconds from midnight. So biologically, we are still designed to spend a majority of our time immersed in the natural world.

Yet today, with the busyness of modern life and the convenience of our schools, offices, and homes, both adults and children are spending less time in nature than ever before. This loss of experience impacts us in profound ways. Leading theories of human development, such as the work of Jean Piaget, recognise the critical role the physical environment plays in supporting children’s development. This underscores that we can’t fundamentally change the physical context of children’s development from outdoors in nature to indoors without unintended consequences.

As an example, many children now primarily experience the world in 2 dimensions (sight and sound) through the interface of screens and digital technology. This negatively impacts healthy sensory development, with our sensory system being essential for the way in which we perceive and respond to the world around us. There’s also a loss of experiential learning and connection to the more-than-human world, as research suggests children today are better able to identify brand logos and cartoon characters such as Pokemon, in comparison to local native species. So the question is: does it matter if kids today are more likely to recognise Pikachu than a Potoroo? At Enchanted Childhoods we believe it

does- both for children today, as well as the health of our planet and children’s futures.

There are a myriad of reasons why nature play is important for our children including the 5 reasons detailed below. These were key drivers for us to establish Enchanted Childhoods:

1) When outdoors, studies have demonstrated that children MOVE MORE. Not only do they move more but they move their bodies in different ways as they jump, roll, climb, spin, and navigate uneven terrain. All these movements help to build stronger physical bodies and to combat the rising rates of overweight and obesity we see in Australian children today.

2) Natural environments are known to be inherently calming and REDUCE STRESS. With mental health concerns becoming increasingly prevalent among the youngest members of our society, we need to provide children with more opportunities to JUST BE in the natural world and to experience the physiological benefits of returning to our roots in nature.

3) Research also indicates that time outdoors in nature helps to RESTORE ATTENTION. One of the best ways we can support children’s capacity to focus and learn within school settings is by allowing ample time for outdoor exploration, learning, and play.

4) The awe, wonder, and natural beauty we experience outdoors is associated with HAPPINESS. Who doesn’t want to feel more joy?

5) Finally, the more time children spend in nature, the more likely they are to form a CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD. This shapes children’s worldviews, sense of identity and belonging, and is demonstrated to be protective for psychological health. It is also associated with greater care for the natural world and pro-environmental behaviours that can help to ensure our children’s children are able to grow up in a healthy world.

As a child, I still remember the simple joy of looking for frogs and tadpoles in our local creeks or looking under rocks at the beach to spot little crabs. I was saddened to revisit some of these places as an adult and realise these populations are struggling and nowhere near as abundant as they were when I was younger. It’s important that children today still have those hands-on experiences where they can learn about, engage with, and develop an appreciation for the natural world. It’s also important that we don’t become so disconnected from local environments that losses of local wildlife go unnoticed and that we do what we can to preserve these animals, places, and opportunities for future generations.

Kids growing up today have been presented with a big challenge to help redirect the current path humanity is on in relation to our relationships with the natural world and combatting the environmental degradation we are currently faced with. If they are to be asked to save the world, let’s ensure they have experienced it fully first. As the legendary Dame Jane Goodall states: