Why do children need to connect with nature?
Nature provides countless opportunities for discovery, creativity, problem solving, and environmental education. Interacting with natural environments allows children to learn by doing and experiment with amazing ideas. In nature, children think, question and hypothesize, thus developing inquisitive minds.
The power of discovery learning lies in the direct contact that boys and girls have with the environment. Through the experience of their vital senses, of touch, movement and balance, internal networks and connections are favored that will benefit optimal biological maturation, awakening the desire to learn and explore, facilitating motor development and activating their imagination Through the game.
Coordinated body movement and the joy of discovering the world with the help of all the senses is a natural gift during early childhood. And when this experience occurs in relation to others, new learning possibilities appear, regarding oneself and peers: living together, exploring together, taking risks and taking care of each other. Relating to nature, the tree, the river, the animals, are aspects connatural to the human being and to the extent that these links are facilitated and extended to the environment in which we grow, the more possibilities there are that its benefits extend to the years that follow.
When boys and girls are leading actors, the benefits extend to all dimensions of life. Active life, especially in natural contexts, reduces the lack of interest that might exist in relation to learning pedagogical content.
Our experience
Contact with nature in early childhood is an indelible mark, which is saved as seeds that will later germinate into good memories and important learning. Our commitment as the Caserta Foundation is to be a bridge that facilitates this vital contact.
Recommendations
Children’s outdoor experience should be intensive rather than extensive
Aerobic activity is not recommended (you do not need to exhaust them, just interact with the environment)
Since their capacity for wonder is absolute, in every corner they find a universe. It is not necessary to go around the world to know everything, in a small space you will be able to learn many things.
These are the benefits of nature for children
The idea of children connecting with nature has long been championed as beneficial for mind and body. Time spent outdoors has been linked to improved ability to focus, memory, and executive function—that is, how we learn versus what we learn.
Movement + disorder = stronger minds
A central tenet of «brain-based learning» theory is that movement can strengthen the brain’s ability to learn, retain, and remember lessons. This theory began in the mid-1990s, when several studies showed that many of the same nerve pathways in the cerebellum, a highly complex area of the brain involved in coordinating motor movements, are also linked to learning processes.
Ability to concentrate and memory thanks to nature
Nature offers many opportunities for observation and fostering this skill builds their ability to focus and learn from the world around them. Even cheap loupes and microscopes can reveal incredible detail. You can take a «mini walk» through the garden, go to a local park or vacant lot and document the plants and animals you find along a 15 meter path.
