Childhood & Nature

Catalog description

When children have access to free play in natural areas, they do the same things, around the country and around the world. They make special places, go on adventures, develop fantasy games, go hunting and gathering, craft small worlds. These recurrent play patterns can be used as design principles to help structure engaging outdoor activities with children. During our days together, we’ll recollect our own favorite childhood experiences and we’ll spend time outside exploring some of these recurrent play patterns. We’ll discuss the research on the relationship between childhood play in nature and environmental behavior in adults. Then we’ll use these experiences to design new approaches to nature programming at schools, nature centers, and environmental programs.