Back to the Garden

Educators say children thrive in the right environment. Can we learn  to love – and leverage – Mother Nature to save a generation of kids?

By David Hunt

When the GlaxoSmithKline Child Development Center opened in 1992 recess wasn't much fun for the preschool kids or the teachers. The classrooms were warm and nurturing, but in the outdoor play area there was hardly any shade and just a few big pieces of manufactured playground equipment for the kids to climb on – and fight over

"That's all it was," says director Lori Little. "Conflict, conflict, conflict."

When center officials decided to renovate the play area a few years later, they turned to design experts at North Carolina State University for ideas.

Children love to ride their bikes along the winding path at the center. Photo by David Hunt

Today, the play area is a place of wonder. The children play together under giant leafy trees, ride their bikes along a twisting pathway, and carefully tend plants in a densely flowering garden. There are birds to feed, apples to harvest and butterflies to chase.

The play area has become an extension of the classroom, where children solve the riddles of the natural world and gain confidence and social skills. Sitting on a bench in the center's canvass-covered outdoor classroom, Little marvels at the transformation.

"The path has a natural flow for the children, with lots of places to pause and get off their bikes and explore," she says. "It's like a laboratory for them."

That's how the team from NC State sees the space as well. According to Robin Moore and Dr. Nilda Cosco, design professionals who founded the Natural Learning Initiative, the play area is far more than just a fun place for recess.

For more than a decade, the researchers have been studying the impact of physical environments on child health and development. They believe that the key to reducing some of the biggest risks facing children, such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes, can be found outdoors.

"It's lifestyle," says Cosco. "If children have been active at age 5 or 6 they will remain active later in life."

But, adds Moore, it's not about encouraging kids to get their heart rates up or burn calories, it's about introducing them to a world where they can explore, imagine, play and grow – a natural world.

"We have to develop a dramatically different way of educating children about engaging with their environment and engaging with each other," he says. "We have to really think about the daily life of children, and work to create environments that support the healthy growth of children."

The Natural Learning Initiative is on the leading edge of that mission.

The program's researchers, staff and graduate students work with child care centers, schools, and other organizations – including museums, zoos, and botanical gardens – to create outdoor spaces that children find irresistible.

They believe outdoor spaces should be designed in a way that allows children to take safe risks while testing their emerging abilities. And, they say, outdoor areas should have a natural feel, with plenty of "loose parts," such as acorns, pinecones, and shells, for children to collect and examine. Virtually every aspect of the outdoor environment, from landscaping to drainage, is subject to evaluation.

Robin Moore is an expert in the development of natural learning environments.

They also train child-care workers, child-development specialists, and teachers to seamlessly incorporate healthy outdoor activities and environments into educational programs. But they warn adults not to be overly intrusive; to allow children time and space to reflect and learn about their surroundings.

Grants from foundations, such as the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, underwrite research to further their work.

The program has grown rapidly in the past three years, spurred by a sense of urgency on the part of the researchers. In light of recent government data on child health – including a report by the Centers for Disease Control that the proportion of overweight children has tripled in the past 20 years – there's reason for concern.

"We don't have much time," says Moore. "We have a window of one or two generations to turn things around."

Links

• Natural Learning Initiative

• NCSU College of Design