Nature-Based Early Childhood Education and Children’s Social, Emotional and Cognitive Development: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic review synthesised evidence on associations between nature-based early childhood education (ECE) and children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. A search of nine databases was concluded in August 2020. Studies were eligible if: (a) children (2–7 years) attended ECE, (b) ECE integrated nature, and (c) assessed child-level outcomes. Two reviewers independently screened full-text articles and assessed study quality. Synthesis included effect direction, thematic analysis, and results-based convergent synthesis. One thousand three hundred and seventy full-text articles were screened, and 36 (26 quantitative; 9 qualitative; 1 mixed-methods) studies were eligible. Quantitative outcomes were cognitive (n = 11), social and emotional (n = 13), nature connectedness (n = 9), and play (n = 10). Studies included controlled (n = 6)/uncontrolled (n = 6) before-after, and cross-sectional (n = 15) designs. Based on very low certainty of the evidence, there were positive associations between nature-based ECE and self-regulation, social skills, social and emotional development, nature relatedness, awareness of nature, and play interaction. Inconsistent associations were found for attention, attachment, initiative, environmentally responsible behaviour, and play disruption/disconnection. Qualitative studies (n = 10) noted that nature-based ECE afforded opportunities for play, socialising, and creativity. Nature-based ECE may improve some childhood development outcomes, however, high-quality experimental designs describing the dose and quality of nature are needed to explore the hypothesised pathways connecting nature-based ECE to childhood development (Systematic Review Registration: CRD42019152582).

Environmental and practice factors associated with children’s device-measured physical activity and sedentary time in early childhood education and care centres: a systematic review

“…This review built on previous evidence syntheses of correlates of outdoor play [71] and physical activity at ECEC [25], physical activity and sedentary time during outdoor play at ECEC [18] and outdoor time in general [82], and nature-based ECEC on physical, social, emotional and cognitive outcomes [83,84]. This study advanced the current body of knowledge on PA and ST in childcare in that the location (outdoor vs indoor) and physical environmental characteristics and ECEC practices enabling outdoor and indoor PA were investigated in relation to accumulation of PA and ST.…”

“…The benefits of outdoor time and play opportunities at ECEC; however, go beyond increasing TPA and MVPA and decreasing ST. Improvements in cognitive and behavioural outcomes [83][84][85][86] and immunoregulation have been observed [87] which could be achieved independently of PA levels. Therefore, one might argue that outdoor play time at ECEC settings serves multiple important purposes for child development and that its contribution for children meeting the physical activity guidelines is limited.…”

Evaluating Outdoor Nature-Based Early Learning and Childcare Provision for Children Aged 3 Years: Protocol of a Feasibility and Pilot Quasi-Experimental Design

“…Beyond addressing key feasibility aspects, our findings will have implications for the wider field of nature-based ELC research and any future fully powered effectiveness evaluation of outdoor nature-based ELC in Scotland. At present, evaluations often have a poor description of the dose and quality of their nature exposure element, making it difficult to determine the pathways by which nature-based ELC influence child health outcomes [ 15 , 18 ]. The present study has three clearly defined models of ELC (traditional, fully outdoors, and satellite) that differ in their provision of outdoor play and learning (e.g., time spent outdoors, number of children outdoors per session, and outdoor space used).…”

“…Providing children with opportunities to spend time outdoors engaging in unstructured play, especially in nature, is a potentially effective approach for supporting emotional and social resilience and cognitive and physical development [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Through play outdoors, children can engage in a variety of play behaviours that help them learn how to navigate their socio–cultural environments in safe simulations [ 19 ].…”

A Low-Cost Method for Understanding How Nature-Based Early Learning and Childcare Impacts Children’s Health and Wellbeing

“…The review included quantitative and qualitative study designs (e.g., cross-sectional, case–control, randomized, and non-randomized studies) with children (2–7 years) or groups of children as the unit of analysis, nature as the exposure/intervention, traditional ELC settings as the comparison/control and a variety of child health attributes as the outcomes ( Johnstone et al, 2021 ). Full details of the methodology can be found elsewhere ( Johnstone et al, 2022a , b ).…”