Outdoor Education Improves Children's Curiosity, Risk-Taking, and Connection to Nature

The current study examines the impact of an outdoor education class on children’s self-reliance, self-regulation, curiosity and risk-taking, motor skills, and appreciation of/ connection to nature. In Study 1, 7 participants were observed throughout a 6-week fall session of the course. Additionally, parents were surveyed before the session began and after it concluded, and children were also interviewed after the last class meeting. Results indicated that children scored highly across many of the measures, but especially on curiosity and risk-taking and appreciation of/ connection to nature. However, there was no difference in scores from before the class began until after it ended. In Study 2, we compared data from a second group of children taking a winter session of the outdoor education class to a demographically similar sample of children who had never attended the nature-based classes, along with surveying their parents. We found that participants who took the classes scored higher in self-reliance, curiosity and risk-taking, and appreciation of/ connection to nature. Taken together, the results of both studies indicate that participation in outdoor education classes – even for short sessions - can have a very positive impact on children’s development.