Green schoolyards are associated with greater nature contact, restorativeness, positive attitudes toward nature and connection to nature

Children spend a great deal of time in school, where the academic and social expectations can lead to cognitive and emotional stress. This study explored the potential of green schoolyards for restorativeness – that is, alleviating some of the stress experienced by the students. The study also explored the effects of schoolyards on children’s attitudes towards nature, connection to nature, and social competences.

Three elementary schools in Lisbon, Portugal participated in the study. One school (the least green school) had a cement yard with a few trees; the second school had a cement yard but with many green areas; and the third school (the most green school) had a vegetable garden and a yard with many parts that were earthen. Surveys completed by 132 students from these schools included measures of restorativeness, attitudes towards nature, connectedness to nature, and frequency of contact with nature. The teachers completed a social competence scale (adapted from the School Social Behavior Scales) for each of the participating students. This scale includes three subscales: self-management/compliance, peer relations, and academic behavior.

Children from the greener schools reported stronger restorative experiences than children from the least green school. Children who had lesser contact with nature reported stronger perceived restorativeness than children with more contact with nature. This unexpected result “suggests that having schools with green yards might buffer the effects of reduced contacts with nature outside of school.” Children in the most green school reported more positive attitudes towards nature and more connectedness to nature than children in the other two schools. There were significant differences in the children’s social competence scores between schoolyards, but not in line with expectations. Children in the school with the yard with green areas had lower social competences than children in both the most green and least green school. These unexpected results may relate to the characteristics of the assessment instrument and/or the effects of other activities.

This study adds support to other research indicating that one of the benefits of green schoolyards relates to restorativeness – that is, the way in which the green environment facilitates children’s recovery of direct attention. The results of this study relating to attitudes towards nature and connectedness to nature also “suggests that designing greener schoolyards might be an opportunity to contribute to reversing global environmental challenges.”