In the context of the importance of nature experiences in supporting development during early childhood and toward encouraging the use of natural outdoor settings with young children, research was undertaken to explore potential relationships among parents' and young children's preferences regarding outdoor play settings and young children's affinity towards nature. Results of this quantitative study show some consistency with prior research, such as children's preference for outdoor play and the influence of activity affordance on their setting preferences, as well as the strong influence of parents' perceptions of safety. Other results from this study contradict prior research such as the lack of relationship among children's preferences, the frequency of time they spend in natural settings, and their level of affinity toward nature. Additional key findings include parents' perceptions regarding difficulty in providing nature experiences as an influence on the frequency of time their young children spend in nature, but not on parents' play setting preferences, and the relationship between parents' preferences and their children's level of affinity toward nature. The small, homogeneous sample used in this study is a limitation, and areas for further research and potential implications are discussed in this context.