Nearby nature, even when easily accessed, is not an integrated part of Norwegian children’s daily lifeAn investigation into the availability and use of nearby nature was motivated, in part, by the growing concern that children’s access to and use of natural areas for play is decreasing rapidly. A nationwide survey of 3160 parents of Norwegian children aged 6-12 was conducted using a web-based questionnaire. Items on the questionnaire asked parents to provide background information about themselves and their children, their attitudes about their children’s contact with nature, the availability and frequency of use of pre-defined outdoor spaces, as well as the type of activities that children engaged in while outside and in what type of situations.
The pre-defined outdoor spaces addressed in the survey were all nature-related but differed in relation to the levels of “naturalness” and the degree of human intervention. The “developed end” of the nature continuum consisted of spaces designed for different purposes and included streets, traditional playgrounds, sports facilities, and private gardens. The “natural” end of the continuum included such undeveloped spaces as forests, waterways, and bogs. Nearby nature was defined as outdoor spaces within walking and cycling distance for children (aged 6-12 years) from home.
The survey -- developed by a multidisciplinary group of researchers in the fields of human geography, anthropology, education, biology and forestry -- addressed three questions: What kind of play environments along the nature continuum are used by children in their daily life? What kind of activities do children undertake most frequently outside? In what kind of situations are the children most commonly accessing the nature continuum (e.g. in leisure time, as part of school activity)?
Results show that forests are the most common outdoor space in residential areas in Norway, with 97% of the parents indicating that their children have access to forests within walking or cycling distance from home. Even when safety and traffic concerns were noted, 85% of the parents still felt that their child has good or very good opportunities for playing in nature. Most of the parents (86%) also stated that nature contact for their child mattered ‘much or very much,’ and 85% indicated that they would like their child to spend more time in nature. Yet, as stated by the researchers, a key finding of the study is that nearby nature spaces have a much more sporadic daily use by children than outdoor developed spaces such as playgrounds and sports facilities.
These findings indicate that children’s preference for play spaces are at the developed end of the nature continuum, and that forests and other natural areas, while available, are not an integrated part of most children’s daily life. Additional findings indicate that children are spending more time in adult-organized situations and activities. Results of this study are discussed in relation to recent research attesting to the importance of children’s free play in natural areas.
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