Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C., peals of laughter ring from the Bird House exhibit. Children splash in the water, dig in the dirt, experiment with sand and build with moss and rocks at Little Critters: Nature Play. This free drop-in program gives children the opportunity to explore nature and early science concepts at their own pace and comfort level and in the company of their caregiver.
Nature play is a specialized type of nature-based learning that prioritizes child-directed, hands-on activities and emphasizes authentic interaction with nature and/or natural materials. It can take place outside but can also take place indoors by using loose, natural parts like sticks, leaves, rocks or soil. The flexibility of nature play means that it can be easily adapted to any environment and incorporated in schools or at home. Little Critters: Nature Play intentionally engages caregivers to build their comfort using natural materials so they can continue nature play at home.
Nature play activities also often incorporate imaginative play opportunities for children to play like animals and practice caretaking behaviors. This strengthens children’s developing sense of empathy and models how they can participate authentically in shaping and caring for the world around them.
More than fun
Though it may look like simple fun, nature play is underpinned by decades of research on its benefits. Introducing this type of play-based learning in nature during childhood has a long-term effect of increasing participation in pro-environmental behaviors in adulthood, according to a study from 2015 by Louise Chawla of the Environmental Design Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. These long-term benefits are particularly significant for young children from birth to age 8, as frequent, positive outdoor experiences during this period contribute to developing conceptions of the natural world as a desirable, valuable place. Reduced exposure to nature during this period can result in children developing fear or misunderstandings of nature, specifically surrounding certain less desirable parts of nature: bugs, dirt and germs.
These negative feelings can then perpetuate and systematize this feeling of nature as undesirable or other). Children growing up in urban environments with less immediate access to natural spaces can be at particular risk of developing fearful responses to wild places and feelings of anxiety, discomfort and disgust toward natural elements such as dirt, plants and animals, according to a 1994 study from Robert Bixler, et al. It is perhaps no wonder that nature play has been widely embraced by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and implemented at zoos, nature centers and schools around the world. At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, nature play is at the core of our strategy for engaging and inspiring the next generation of learners and scientists.
The benefits of nature play are not limited to the connections that form between children and the natural world. The multisensory, experiential qualities inherent in nature play offer many different developmental and academic benefits when integrated into any learning environment:
- Without the prescribed narratives and uses presented by built environments and materials, children have greater freedom to direct and create their play, strengthening decision-making skills and reinforcing self-confidence.
- The sensory-rich experience of being outdoors (or bringing natural items inside) can make it accessible to a wider range of developmental levels, as children can approach and engage at their own pace and comfort level.
- Activating experiential learning opportunities in nature has been shown to improve student outcomes in science, math, and language arts, according to a 2013 study by Dilafruz Williams and P. Scott Dixon.
- Nature-based play provides a powerful opportunity to build empathy for other living things and the natural world through activities encouraging connection, comparison and consideration.
- Using natural materials in the classroom instead of commercially produced materials (e.g., sticks and rocks instead of plastic blocks) helps build creative and critical pathways, strengthens symbolic representation skills, and enhances the future play value of these materials when encountered outside.
Nature play in your classroom
The benefits of nature play do not end with the students. Nature-based learning also offers teachers and caregivers one of our most treasured gifts: flexibility! Nature play can be activated in any environment, from rural to urban, and it does not require a special field trip. All it takes is stepping outside your school doors!
Don’t have a forest in your backyard? A patch of grass or puddles on a sidewalk can inspire nature-based learning. Take advantage of a sunny day to observe, measure, or sketch shadows on the playground or sidewalk as a part of your math, art, or science lessons. Spend time observing the shrubs outside your school entrance each day and identify new vocabulary words to describe any changes. Or create and illustrate stories about any insects students observe living in the shrubs; what changes do they see?
You and your students can also bring nature into your classroom with the outdoor treasures you collect or by using some of these supply and activity ideas.
Nature play at any age
Nature play is not limited to early childhood; these experiences benefit children at all stages. The Little Critters: Nature Play program about trees offers ways to adapt nature-based activities and is designed to engage students of various ages.
Early childhood (preschool)
Sensory play: Young children learn about the world around them through their senses. Sensory play is an important way to encourage sensory exploration. Try incorporating materials from trees that you can easily find outside (pinecones, acorns, branches, leaves) into sensory play stations to develop your students’ vocabulary. Need something academic to push sensory play to the next level? Encourage students to sort by type: can they group the pinecones together? Provide color-coded bowls for color sorting or labeled baskets for size sorting.
Early elementary (K-2)
Math manipulatives: Incorporate materials from trees as math manipulatives for easy, low-cost, nature-based learning. Instead of using plastic bears to count on a tens frame, provide your students with acorns to practice counting or other mathematical operations. Try using pinecones for informal measurement: how long is the table using pinecones instead of plastic measuring blocks? This will build your students’ comfort level with natural materials and also stimulate their creativity.
Late elementary (3-5)
Food chains/food web: Instead of drawing a food web on the whiteboard, take your students outside to observe the natural world: on the playground, on the sidewalk, on a trail, anywhere. Have students observe and illustrate any animal and plant interactions on a field notebook page. Are there birds eating seeds? Bugs nibbling leaves? Have each student document their food chain interaction and share as a group. Draw observations into a collective food web showing all the food chain interactions they witnessed on their outdoor adventure.
Middle school (6-8)
Exploring biodiversity: This activity will help your students practice scientific thinking and science skills while exploring the hidden biodiversity in your schoolyard. Find a spot under or near a tree to set up a “Biocube” and discover all the different organisms that live there.
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