Swedish preschoolers generally ignored new features installed at their schools to enhance biodiversity, perhaps due to their lack of involvement in the process

The term “ecosystem services” refers to the benefits provided by the natural environment and from healthy ecosystems to humans. This study focused on a schoolyard initiative designed to strengthen ecosystem services around the school while simultaneously promoting children’s play and ecological literacy. While nine preschools in Sweden participated in the schoolyard initiative, data for this study was based on just five of the participating schools.

The schoolyard initiative included the installation of environmental features designed to increase the biodiversity at each of the schools. Examples of what was added include insect hotels, gardening plots, bird boxes, trees, and bushes. Twenty-three children (age 4-5) participated in walk-and-talk sessions before and after the installation of the new environmental features at their schools. The pre- and post-sessions were conducted approximately one year apart, with almost all of the same children and researchers involved. Most of the sessions were conducted one-to-one with a researcher. During the first session (prior to any installations) the children were asked to show and photograph their favorite place in the schoolyard. They were also encouraged to explain what they liked about it, how they used it, and whether they spent most of time there alone or with others. During the second session (after the installations), the children were asked the same questions, but also asked directly about the features installed to promote ecosystem services in the schoolyards. Two questions framed the collection and analysis of the data: (1) What are preschool children’s favorite features in their schoolyards and their associated affordances? (2) What meanings do children make of the new features installed in schoolyards to promote ecosystem services?

Children’s responses indicated that a favorite feature of the schoolyard was a manufactured multi-play unit. This was followed by the swing. Shielded places were also frequently mentioned. Children from a preschool with the most natural environment reported the greatest diversity of features. Children enjoyed features affording movement -- climbing, swinging, running, and rolling – and features supporting pretend play, hiding, nesting, and resting. Only one of the preschools had access to a wilder natural area, and this was the only school where researchers observed children involved in creative imaginative play. Few children in any of the schools showed spontaneous attention to the installed features. This may be due, in part, to the fact that the mini-forest gardens had only just started, and some of the other environmental features (fruit and berries, shades, shelters, or fauna) were not yet fully established when the second session took place. Another possible explanation may be due to the fact that the “children were not enough involved within the development of the yard and experienced little guided exploration of environmental affordances”.

This research calls attention to the importance of involving children in the planning, design, and implementation of schoolyard initiatives designed to improve ecosystem services, if the goal is to also promote ecological literacy. These findings also “indicate a strong need for frequent and ongoing adult input” in stimulating children’s interest in environmental features.