Throughout human history, people of all ages have learned from the world around them. Consider any domain of child development—whether it's cognitive, physical, or socio-emotional—and there is ample evidence that skillful teaching in natural outdoor environments, from wild areas to green schoolyards to city parks, promotes a child's healthy development, while also connecting children deeply with the places where they live and the natural and human communities of which they are a part.
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Using Nature in Teaching
Educators have long known that animals, plants, water, and other aspects of the natural world delight children and draw them in as learners. As a result, most preschools will at certain points use nature or natural elements in their teaching to achieve great educational results, whether or not they choose to make nature central in the program.
Recognizing both the benefits of nature to education, and the benefits of education to nature, many early childhood education programs use nature and natural elements to enhance the curriculum and promote environmental stewardship. They might plant a garden or put up a bird feeder, for example, to offer more opportunities for children to experience nature as a part of the program.
A nature-based early childhood education program (also called a nature preschool) takes an immersive approach, putting nature at the heart of the program. In a nature-based early education program, nature is a setting for the program and an object of study. In addition, the care and protection of nature, including the wider environment and its people, are regarded as a key outcome of the program, along with healthy child development. Some describe these nature-based early learning programs as learning in nature, about nature, and for nature.
Many programs that want to capitalize on the benefits of nature, and help children learn more about the natural world around them, choose to incorporate nature-based education practices without making the program fully nature-based. Every program is unique and there is no one right way to bring nature into early childhood education.
