Nature contact at school: The impact of an outdoor classroom on children’s well-being.

Nature contact facilitates healthy child development and a disconnect with nature presents potential health risks. This study was designed to test a nature intervention at an elementary school among children. An experimental crossover design was implemented over six weeks; two teachers taught their...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Environmental Health Research Vol. 28; no. 6; pp. 653 - 667
Main Authors: Largo-Wight, Erin, Guardino, Caroline, Wludyka, Peter S., Hall, Katrina W., Wight, Jeff T., Merten, Julie W.
Format: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Dec2018
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Dec2018
      vid: 28
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        10.1080/09603123.2018.1502415
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        atl: Nature contact at school: The impact of an outdoor classroom on children’s well-being.
      aug:
        au:
          Largo-Wight, Erin
          Guardino, Caroline
          Wludyka, Peter S.
          Hall, Katrina W.
          Wight, Jeff T.
          Merten, Julie W.
        affil: Department of Public Health, Brooks College of Health, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Natural Environment
          Schools
          Learning Environment Psychosocial Factors
          Psychological Well-Being
          Human
          Child
          Schools, Elementary
          Crossover Design
          Teachers
          Teaching Methods
          Child Behavior
          Descriptive Statistics
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Happiness
          Child: 6-12 years
      ab: Nature contact facilitates healthy child development and a disconnect with nature presents potential health risks. This study was designed to test a nature intervention at an elementary school among children. An experimental crossover design was implemented over six weeks; two teachers taught their respective kindergarten classes the daily language arts lesson in either the control (indoor classroom) or nature treatment (outdoor classroom) conditions. Child well-being measures were compared in the two conditions. Teachers’ redirections of child behavior were significantly fewer in the nature condition (t = 2.49, p < 0.05) compared to the control. Also, fewer children were off task in the nature condition on average. There were mixed well-being results; children reported no significance difference in happiness in the two conditions, but teachers reported modest benefit in child well-being in the nature condition. The outdoor classroom is a promising method for increasing nature contact and promoting student well-being.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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