A new materialist view of the child-nature relationship assigns vitality to non-human materials

This theoretical paper uses data from an ethnographical field study to present a new materialist reading of children's dens. Materialist thinking challenges the conventional idea of agency as an exclusively human trait and embraces the concept of “intra-action.” This way of thinking renders vitality to non-human materials and allocates agency to the space in-between children and the material world.

The study is based on observations of and interactions with a group of 10-12-year-old boys in a Danish school. Observations and other data-collection activities focused primarily on the students' den-building activities in a wooded area on the school grounds and in a neighboring forest, which is an integral part of the children's playspace. Eight 5th-grade boys were the key informants for this study. Data collected during 23 days of field work included written notes, photographs and video recordings. The researcher assumed a semi-participatory role during the data-collection process. Data collection strategies included “walkabouts” guided by the children and “hanging out” with the children during recess. Field notes were completed on-site immediately after recess.

Analysis of the data focused on children's den-building activities and their relations to dens. Findings support the idea that children's relations to dens went beyond a subject-object relationship and that this relationship was brought about by intra-action. Agency wasn't located solely in what children brought to the situation but arose out of complex encounters with non-human materials. These findings are based on four themes identified by the researcher: Dens are becomings not objects; Flows of materials; Denning as morphogenetic (formative) processes; and Dens are alive (have vitality). Each theme is discussed in a separate section of the paper.

This paper adds to the growing interest in disrupting the traditional view of the child-nature relationship which assigns agency to children and passivity to non-human materials. Related research -- sometimes referred to as “post-humanist” or “new materialism” -- places the child as a participant in amongst a world of active materials. One possible implication of this view is to avoid using pristineness, naturalness, and beauty as determining factors in evaluating the quality of children's natural outdoor playspaces. From a post-humanist view, an environment that accommodates a “messy” flow of materials would be more conducive to promoting a positive child-nature relationship. Materials in such an environment would be characterized by temporality, growability and open-endedness.