Green schoolyards provide nature contact opportunities for children, but the extent to which children take advantage of these opportunities is not well understood. This study investigated two related questions: “To what extent do children of different age groups have contact with nature in green schoolyards? Do specific schoolyard characteristics influence contact with nature in green schoolyards?” Contact with nature was defined as “a state of exposure to sensory stimuli by elements of nature.”
Three schools in Germany participated in this study. The schools were “combined schools,” in that they served students in elementary grades (1-4) and secondary grades (5 – 10). The total population of students participating in this study was 1278; the age range was 6 to 16. The schoolyard at each school consisted of both green (natural) and non-green areas.
A team of eight trained observers conducted observations of the children during three 25-30-minute lunch breaks when the students were free to move about the yard. During this time, elementary and secondary students shared the same schoolyard simultaneously. Each observer was stationed in one of 24 green observation areas, all coded in advance in relation to terrain structure, vegetation density, and functional features. Terrain structure related to the degree of surface unevenness and the number of structuring elements, such as rocks and tree trunks. Vegetation density related to extent of and different layers of vegetation coverage. Functional features referred to elements children could use. These were grouped in to 12 different categories: walking ground, seats, area of retreat (open), hideout (closed), climbing opportunity, balancing opportunity, tunnel, slide, water, artwork, lookout, and path. The observers recorded two dimensions of contact with nature: (1) an environmental dimension, defined as the number of children who stayed in a green area per minute; and (2) the behavioral dimension, defined as the number of children who manipulated or observed natural objects per minute. The age of the children observed was also recorded as falling within one of four age categories: grade 1+2, grade 3+4, grades 5-7 and grade 8-10.
Findings showed that younger children differed from older children in both dimensions of nature contact (environmental and behavioral). The younger students spent more time in the green areas than the older students and engaged with natural materials more often. Students in the youngest age group (grades 1+2) were 44 times more likely to engage with natural objects than children in the oldest age group (grades 8-10). Neither terrain structure nor vegetation density had much of an influence on children's contact with nature. For the younger students (grades 1-4), functional features linked to movement (walking ground, path, climbing opportunity, and water) had a positive influence on contact with nature; features that slowed movement (such as seats, lookout, and area of retreat) tended to have a negative influence. Features linked to movement did not appear important for students in grades 8 -10. Areas of retreat seemed more important for this age group. The authors, in interpreting the finds, suggest that "there appears to be no balancing effect of green areas for age effects, meaning that the green schoolyard does not promote sustained contact with nature as children age."
Implications for design of schoolyards for greater contact with nature for all age groups are offered.
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