News & Events
Recent Report Summarizes Research on Benefits of Time Outside
A recent report by Louise Chawla and Debra Cushing at the University of Colorado's Children, Youth, and Environments Center for Research and Design summarizes fifteen studies that confirm the benefits of time spent outside in natural settings. Additional research that can help you to make the case for connecting education to the local community and natural world can be found in the research and evaluation section of this site, and at www.peecworks.org.
The Benefits of Nature Fact Sheet is a two page summary that concludes that:
- Time outdoors in natural settings increases children's abilities to concentrate
- The greater access children and adolescents have to natural settings, the more resilient they are to adversity and stress
- Urban children with more access to vegetation and natural settings are engaged in more creative forms of play than children with only standardized playground equipment
- Children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) experience fewer symptoms in natural settings
- Preschoolers who played outdoors in natural settings have greater gains in coordination and motor skills than those who do not.
This important summary communicates why getting outside from an early age is critical for producing healthy children and communities. It can be used to help write grants, and share with educators and administrators the value of using local resources in education.