Nature Based Play
"A back- to- nature movement to reconnect children with the outdoors is burgeoning nationwide."
-USA Today, November 2006
(Burdette and Whitaker, 2005; Ginsburg et al., 2007). Unstructured play, indoors or outdoors,
allows children to initiate activity rather than waiting for an adult to direct them, while using
problem-solving skills, their imagination, negotiating skills with peers, etc.—all of which is
very beneficial to children's learning and development. The outdoors, especially diverse
natural environments with varied plants and landscapes, invites children to act on their
natural curiosity and, with the endless range of things to explore and question, provides a
uniquely engaging environment for unstructured play. Among the added benefits, children's
natural curiosity leads to scientific learning—not only specific details of nature, but scientific
method. (Children in Nature 2008: A Report in the Movement to Reconnect Children to the
Natural World)