Viewing nature through virtual reality can be combined with physical activity to improve young children’s attentionThis experimental study used randomly assigned groups of young children to investigate the effects of viewing natural environment videos and physical activity on improving young children’s attention. Both physical activity interventions and watching videos of nature have been shown to enhance attention levels of young children; however, it remains unclear how these two activities can be combined to achieve the best outcomes. To clarify the effects, researchers compared four different combinations of physical activity and viewing nature using virtual reality (VR) on children’s auditory and visual attention levels.
Study participants included 152 kindergarten students ages 4-6 in China. Children were randomly assigned to four experimental groups: (1) Activity + video group: four minutes of physical activity, two minutes rest, four minutes of watching the natural environment video; (2) Video + activity group: four minutes of watching the natural environment video, two minutes rest, four minutes of physical activity; (3) Physical activity-based group: four minutes of physical activity, two minutes of nature video, and another four minutes of physical activity; and (4) Natural environment video-based group: four minutes of watching the natural environment video, two minutes of physical activity, and another four minutes of watching nature video. Physical activity was of moderate intensity and involved repeating a cycle of running, jumping and crawling indoors. All children viewed the same nature video focused on green and blue landscapes using VR glasses. Before and after the intervention, children completed auditory and visual sustained attention tests which assessed their ability to stay focused. Pre- and post-test scores were statistically analyzed to compare changes within and across groups. Additionally, classroom teachers completed questionnaires on students’ demographic and behavioral information, in which they rated students’ concentration, physical activity during school, and frequency of viewing videos or pictures of nature.
Analysis of the differences in test scores before and after the intervention within each of the four groups revealed significant improvements to both auditory and visual attention for only the activity + video group. The video + activity group had significant gains in auditory attention, while visual attention scores decreased. The physical activity‑based group had no significant differences in either measure of attention. The nature video‑based group significantly improved auditory attention, while visual attention scores decreased. Overall, auditory attention post-test scores of the four groups combined showed an improvement over pretest scores. Specifically, the activity + video group and natural environment video-based group demonstrated the most improvement for auditory attention. However, only the activity + video group showed a significant improvement trend for visual attention, while the other three groups demonstrated a downward trend in scores.
The key finding of this study is the marked improvement of attention among children who participated in the activity + video group. Interestingly, the order of the two intervention activities was shown to be important for supporting children’s attention. The video + activity group, which reversed the order of the two activities, revealed different results, with a significant decrease in visual attention. Controlling for a range of possible confounding variables (teacher reports of family demographics and frequency of physical activity and viewing nature in children's daily lives and greenness of the home environment) weakened significant results. The authors encourage future research on individual differences in children's attention and the influence of physical activity and nature viewing. Based on these findings, the researchers recommend that children engage in physical activity in the first half of class breaks or recess, followed by watching natural environment videos to improve attention when they return to class. While the impact of different relaxation methods on children’s visual and auditory attention must be further explored, this study points to the potential of VR as a way to experience nature that restores attention when paired with physical activity.
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