The Magic of Nature

This National Mother Earth Day, we are taking a closer look at the magic of nature and being outdoors for children!

Interest in nature as a therapeutic resource goes back to ancient times and current research continues to reinforce the idea that being in green spaces supports both our body and mind. And the beauty is that this powerful medicine is FREE.

Nature has magical powers

• The micro-organisms found in mud develop children’s immune stems, even breathing near soil stimulates the production of serotonin. Mud makes you happy and healthy.
• Higher oxygen levels feed the brain, allowing the mind to work at its best.
• Outdoors, cortisol levels (which affect stress and anxiety) are 40% lower due to the human-safe chemicals released by plants and trees.
• Time in green spaces significantly lowers the effects of ADHD, with research showing time outdoors has a similar impact to a dose of Ritalin.
• Trees absorb considerable amounts of pollution, resulting in cleaner air and a positive impact on respiratory conditions such as Asthma.
• Having just a view of nature has been shown to speed up recovery time for patients in hospitals.
• Natural light encourages better sleep.
• When children touch and feel nature, Oxytocin is released into the body, which calms and relaxes.

A Child’s Pace

With life in the modern world becoming increasingly busy, as adults, we are missing out on the small details in each day. This doesn’t apply to children. Fascinated by difference, they delight in the everyday changes that take place in their environment.

How often as adults do we stop to notice a snail making its way across the path, look up at the clouds passing by or search for fairies in the hidden cracks of trees? It is only by giving children this time to wonder, become absorbed, ponder and revisit that they can gain a deeper understanding.

It is only with this deeper level of thinking that children can make the valuable connections needed and the main ingredient for success? Time!

Natural materials

Natural materials offer the greatest opportunities for learning and wellbeing outdoors, are easily available in the world around us, and are low-cost to supply.

• Soil
• Sand
• Plants
• Stone
• Wood
• Shells
• Water

…they offer endless possibilities for young children. Outdoors children can interact with these materials using their whole body, on a larger, messier scale.

We often bring natural materials indoors, as we recognize their value, however when outdoors and less constrained, children can investigate further, mix, pick, crush, concoct.

At such low expense, we can provide children with a completely open-ended resource, that responds to their curiosity and desire to figure out and make sense of the world around them.

Children become immersed in natural play and interaction with calming materials such as sand, often holding therapeutic value for children.

Rhiannon Mountain, Head of Outdoor Learning, said:

“Childhood has changed so dramatically in the last few decades. Sadly, this generation is spending less time outdoors than any before it. At Kids Planet, we’re passionate about giving the special gift of nature back. It’s free, so get out there and enjoy it!”

Outdoor Learning at Kids Planet

Kids Planet is passionate about outdoor learning, and this latest initiative supports the company’s very own nature-based approach ‘Udeskole’, which received the 2023 NMT National Nursery Award for Nursery Training and Development.

The Udeskole approach is Kids Planet’s unique take on learning outdoors, inspired by Nordic countries. It connects children, practitioners, families, and local communities to nature, and was developed to inspire and support nurseries to embrace all that is outdoors, supporting children’s wellbeing and learning outcomes.

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