Tree climbing is one aspect of nature play; however, it is limited in many areas due to fear of liability, heightened safety awareness, unclear policies, accessibility, and restrictive outdoor play time. This study investigated current practices concerning tree climbing in early childhood settings with the objective of creating recommendations,…

Farm- and nature-based early childhood education programs have a unique potential to provide young children with skills and experiences that build a strong foundation for future learning and environmental stewardship, but can also to extend positive impacts to families. In this paper, we work to bridge the gap between research and practice by…

To support a sustainable planet, preschools need to engage young children with sustainability education. In the United States of America (USA), nature-based preschool programs are likely to promote environmental science and nature education, given their outdoor curricula, but very little is known about how these programs might also cultivate…

Gull, Levenson Goldstein, and Rosengarten (2018) examined the benefits and risks associated with tree climbing on child development and resiliency in regards to parental perspectives; however, it lacked a clear male perspective. The recommendations from that study mentioned that 93% of the responses originally came from mothers; hence, the need to…

Increasing demands of accountability and academic readiness across U.S. preschools are often accompanied by decreased play and time outdoors during the school day. The nature preschool movement, grounded in a desire to foster connection to the natural world while also supporting important developmental processes and school readiness, counteracts…

Children who spend more time outdoors are more physically active and have fewer behavioral problems than those who spend less time outdoors. No studies to date have evaluated physical activity and behavioral outcomes in an exclusively outdoor nature preschool setting. The aim of this study was to examine differences in objectively measured…

Time spent outdoors benefits children's physical, social and psychological development, although children today spend far less time outdoors than children of previous generations. The nature-based school initiative has grown in popularity as a means of increasing children's connection with nature and harnessing its benefits for their educational…

This study examined the benefits and risks associated with tree climbing on child development and resiliency. A mixed method survey instrument was administered to parents of children aged 3-13 years who climbed trees. The survey examined demographics, details of tree climbing activities, and the type of injuries that have resulted from this type…

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…