Nature benefits are essential for healthy child development and yet more and more children are spending less and less time outdoors.
In his book Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv coined the term “Nature Deficit Disorder” in reference to some disturbing childhood trends that have arisen over the years as children spend less and less time outdoors. The cost of being alienated from nature has been linked to obesity, depression and ADD (attention deficit disorder). Conversely, we have seen the numerous benefits that nature offers:
- It can increase creativity
- It can ease depression
- It may improve our outlook
- It helps to improve our focus
- It can boost our immunity
- It can decrease the risk of developing myopia
Children who regularly experience nature play demonstrate significant improvements in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning ability, creativity and mental, psychological and emotional wellbeing. They are also healthier, happier, more resistant to stress and depression, they perform better in school and they have higher self-esteem.
Nature Benefits ADD/ADHD
There has been concern in recent times over the increasing incidence of ADD and the need for drug therapy to manage these children. The good news is that a growing body of research supports the use of nature immersion as a form of therapy for improving the symptoms of ADD/ADHD.
- Coping with ADD: The Surprising Connection to green play settings
- A potential natural treatment for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Evidence from a national study
- Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park
- Could exposure to everyday green spaces help treat adhd? Evidence from children’s play setting
Nature Benefits from Pictures and Sounds
People who saw the roof with the grassy, flowering meadow made significantly fewer omission errors, and they had more-consistent levels of attention overall and fewer momentary lapses. But among the group who saw the concrete roof, performance fell after the microbreak.
When listening to the natural sounds, the workers not only performed better on the task, but also reported feeling more positive about their environment than they did when listening to other sounds.
Nature Benefits Our Children
Yet despite the powerful effects of nature, children are spending more and more time indoors – to their detriment.
21% of today’s kids regularly play outside, compared with 71% of their parents. – The Guardian
According to The University of Essex:
Just five minutes of “green exercise” can produce rapid improvements in mental wellbeing and self-esteem, with the greatest benefits being experienced by children.
The American Medical Association published a study in 2005 demonstrating that free and unstructured outdoor play makes children smarter, better able to get along with others, healthier and happier. Regular nature play enhances all the following qualities:
- Cognitive: problem-solving skills, focus and self-discipline.
- Social: cooperation, flexibility, and self-awareness.
- Emotional: reduced aggression and increased happiness.
“Nature is a tool to get children to experience not just the wider world, but themselves.” Climbing a tree is about “learning how to take responsibility for yourself, and how – crucially – to measure risk for yourself. Falling out of a tree is a very good lesson in risk and reward.”
Children need to get back outdoors – it is vital for their health and wellbeing.
See also: The Case for Nature – Research Support