7 Benefits of Outdoor Education for Preschoolers
7 Benefits of Outdoor Education for Preschoolers
There is nothing more fun than exploring the outdoors with little kids. Their wonder at all the things around them is a bit catching! Seeing a butterfly or a wooly worm through their eyes can bring back our own amazement of what nature has given us to enjoy. When it comes to preschool, the classroom should not be the only place 3-5 year olds are learning. Being outdoors for this age group really is the key to a great start in what will hopefully be a lifetime of education. Sitting at a desk inside four walls, not so much. If you are a parent and are wondering what outdoor activities you can try at home or at the park, stay tuned. We’ll share a list at the end you can “take with you”.
While we know that not every preschool has the opportunity to provide an outdoor education like we can at Flourish Nature School, consider these seven benefits and maybe you’ll find a better way for your preschooler to learn.
1. Increased Concentration
Most preschoolers struggle with the ability to focus and concentrate while learning new information. Put them in a classroom setting, and with all the distractions around them in a small space, the ability to focus becomes even less. In some ways, you would think that being outside would make focusing harder. Wouldn’t that bird over there trying to get that worm out of the ground along with the bees buzzing around that flower bush be way too much stimulation to really focus on what the teacher is saying? But the data proves otherwise. Teachers who are actually in outdoor classrooms reported that “students had significantly improved attention spans and decreased disruptive behaviors when learning outdoors”.
It seems that the outdoors actually helps kids pay attention. Even playing outside vs an indoor playspace or even an outdoor play area with playground equipment, studies show that even kids with ADHD or ADD are actually less hyperactive and able to pay attention better.
2. Improved Mental Health
Just being in nature can lift the spirit of most humans. Especially those who tend to be indoors most of the time. With young children, if they are playing and learning in an outdoor setting, it goes even further than just lifting their spirit or mood. One pediatrician goes so far as to say that “time outside enjoying nature has been shown to not only reduce stress and lessen anger and aggression, but it also can boost energy and attention”.
Long-term effects are also part of the data. Even when kids are back inside, those positive influences from the outside tend to keep on working! According to research, “These settings also engage students in a more hands-on way that has lasting positive effects—from increased concentration to more deeply anchored learning, and potentially improved mental health—even after they return inside.”
3. Improved cognitive function
This benefit of outdoor education cannot be over emphasized. For all children, and including those with learning issues like ADHD to dyslexia, improving overall cognitive function is essential to any learning experience. Research backs this up. A study done at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, showed that “outdoor education focuses on experimental, hands-on learning in real-life environments through the senses, e.g., through visual, auditory, and tactile means, improving students’ learning and retention of knowledge as a result.”
This is good news for parents who are always looking for ways to help their children as their brains are developing during the preschool years at an exponential rate. Enrolling in an outdoor education program can help kids learn better.
4. Enhanced Socio-emotional Learning
The Committee for Children defines SEL as “. . . the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success”. These skills are difficult to teach but are essential for lifelong success in social situations. Outdoor education is a great place for these skills to be learned. Through teamwork and group activities, kids learn to cooperate with others and find ways to solve problems with their team instead of within themselves. With the environment around them giving them less anxiety and less stress, children often find the ability to interact with others easier and less-threatening. Sharing, cooperating, and learning together with their peers seems to come more naturally in an outdoor setting. You can learn more about our own curriculum here!
5. Overall well-being
There was a very interesting study done in Canada in 2022 around the effects of outdoor education for children. Not only did it show that 95% of the children who were part of the study, saw significant improvement in overall wellbeing, the teachers felt it too with a whopping 90% reporting they also felt improved wellbeing. The report also observed that these results “are consistent with the attention restoration theory, which posits that mental fatigue and concentration can be improved by being in nature”. Who knew? This is an amazing added benefit to outdoor education!
6. Physical Health
Outdoor education gets kids outside and moving their bodies. It could also give them a love for the outdoors that has a good chance of continuing as they age.
Being in the sun, breathing fresh air, having to move through their natural environment all contribute to a healthy body. Building physical strength, improving motor skills, even strengthening muscles that may not be used as much indoors, make outdoor education highly valuable for preschoolers.
7. Encourages a Break From Technology
Being outdoors provides a break from the constant stimulation of technology, giving children the opportunity to relax and recharge. As the years go by, the age of children using devices keeps getting younger and younger. Now, even one year olds are given tablets to keep them occupied. No judgment for parents who need a moment to destress from the overwhelming task of parenting young children, but when that moment becomes hours in the day, the detrimental effect on brain development in preschoolers can be devastating. Not just for early brain development, but long term.
A 2019 study scanned the brains of children 3 to 5 years old and found those who used screens more than the recommended one hour a day without parental involvement had lower levels of development in the brain’s white matter – an area key to the development of language, literacy and cognitive skills. So, spending time looking at screens literally changes the way the brains of young children develop and not in a good way. Delving deeper into this topic is important but it’s one for another day. It needs to be emphasized, however, that the benefit of giving kids freedom from technology in an outdoor setting is exponential. The younger kids are spared the overindulgence of screen time, the better it is for their actual brain development. This is especially true of children with specific learning disabilities.
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These 7 benefits are not an exhaustive list, but an important list nonetheless. Giving preschoolers the experience of learning outdoors is something to seriously consider whether you are a parent, educator, or just a concerned caregiver. Here at Flourish Nature School, our mission is to create a learning environment that inspires children, families, educators and administrators alike: cultivating a nurturing community where we all may flourish in harmony with the wisdom of nature. We would love to share that with you!
If you are interested in enrollment information or just have some questions for us, feel free to reach out to us here.
Flourish Nature School is a program of Johnsonburg Camp and Retreat Center. You can learn more about it at this link.
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Some fun outdoor activities to try at home or out in nature! We’ve listed only 10 - there are a whole lot more you can try!
Make prints of leaves
Create a fun obstacle course
Play a color match game or do a color scavenger hunt
Keep watch over a bird feeder
Hunt for various bugs and insects
Take a sensory walk and use all the senses
“Paint” with squirt guns
Plant some seeds or seedlings
Play a memory game
Birdwatch and other animal observation
