Play behaviors and styles

In 2019, the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared the globe was experiencing its sixth mass extinction and conservation action was needed. Conservation activities, such as planting trees, can empower participants and instill pro-environmental behaviors. However, there has been new insight into the pedagogy associated with stewardship. A long-standing view on stewardship activities presents humans with the power to save nature, which further divides humans and nature, as opposed to considering their inseparability.

Arts-based pedagogies have become popular in environmental education (EE) to enhance students' experience and develop interdisciplinary leaders and thinkers for climate change issues. Dance improvisation offers an opportunity for students to blur the human-nature delineation through body movement to understand the relationship of environmental changes on humans and human action on environments. In particular, dance improvisation may help young students embody weather and discover that weather actively happens all the time, not just when the student is outside experiencing the weather.

Environmental education plays a pivotal role in a child's development of place attachment, an individual's affinity for a particular place in nature, and connection with nature, the individual's personal relationship with nature despite its location. Previous research has shown when children experience and appreciate nature, they will be more likely to care for the environment and adopt pro-environmental behaviors. Further, children can develop a stronger sense of place attachment and connection to nature earlier in life compared to when they are older.

Research shows that outdoor play is associated with positive emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development. Children who spend time playing outdoors, particularly in nature, are more physically active, less inclined toward hyperactivity and inattention, and mentally healthier. Given the benefits of nature play and its importance for childhood development, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that preschool age children get at least 60-90 minutes of outdoor play per day.

Spending time in nature during early childhood can be formative and can profoundly influence the development of positive environmental behaviors, attitudes, and ethics. Studies show that nature play can help children develop skills and capacities to learn, focus, and assess risk; inspire creativity and imagination; and promote physical health. Given the benefits of spending time in nature, children should have opportunities to learn in and experience nature.

Creative thinking is an essential skill for solving complex problems. Past research has shown that early childhood (3-5 years) is an invaluable time to instill creative thinking skills and pro-environmental values. Nature preschools, which provide age-appropriate learning with nature as their central theme, may help to foster creative thinking and pro-environmental values during early childhood. Nature preschools commonly employ “nature play,” which includes unstructured activities in natural outdoor environments.

With electronic devices more pervasive than ever in the world of children and adults alike, many parents, classroom educators, and environmental educators fear that children do not spend enough time away from screens and exploring natural spaces. This diminished connection with the natural world may cause cascading impacts on childhood development, impeding opportunities to connect with nature as a whole. Playscapes, or enclosed play spaces that incorporate natural elements, seek to fill this void, at least partially.

School gardens have rapidly risen in popularity within the sphere of environmental education because of their myriad benefits to health, environment, and the learning system more broadly. This is often because many school gardens are designed with an overall progressive approach to learning and, therefore, hold great potential as an alternative learning space. Many existing school-garden studies emphasize benefits related to health and education, as well as to the well-being of students.

Interpreters at Banff National Park have begun using improvisational theater games in an effort to boost the number and quality of interpretive programs for youth in the park. The games are designed to encourage groups of children to work together to solve problems creatively, interactively, and spontaneously. The researchers evaluated kids' enjoyment and perceived learning after participating in interpretive programs that featured the improvisational theater activities.

Often, one of the main elements of environmental education programs is spending time in nature. This derives from the belief of both practitioners and researchers that a relationship exists between time spent in nature and a person's environmental views, behaviors, and overall health. Better understanding the mechanisms behind this relationship could help inform environmental education practice. In this study, the authors considered frequency of children's contact with nature, attitudes toward the environment, and choices of environmentally related behaviors.