Katie Dickison

LBST 392

Nancy van Groll

May 22, 2020

                                                   Reading Reflection 1

Chapter 1 of Ruth Wilson’s book Nature and Young Children includes many different subtopics surrounding nature play. Those subtopics include children and childhood, creative play, children and nature, play in natural environments, related research and theory, and sense of wonder. Wilson defines nature play as playing with nature not just playing in nature (5). For children this could mean digging through the dirt, collecting sticks, or building sandcastles. It’s about immersing yourself completely within the natural environment and being free to explore, play, and learn to your heart’s desire. Through this kind of authentic play comes a myriad of benefits, which include: “stimulating higher levels of physical activity, boosting brain development, fostering emotional well-being and strengthening social bonds, and reconditioning children to care about the environment later in life” (Wilson 5).                      

As previously mentioned, Wilson brought up a lot of different issues and topics related to nature play throughout chapter 1, however, there were a few in particular that I found most intriguing and beneficial for my research moving forward. One of those subtopics is Children and Nature. Children and Nature focuses on this idea of a child’s natural inclination towards nature. How a child is drawn to animals, flowers, or water. They want to feel the water run through their fingers, pick flowers, or learn where certain animals come from or what they eat. This experience of wonder and excitement and intrigue to learn and know more about our natural environment is something that people lose as they get older. However, it’s important to note that even though children perceive the natural world differently that doesn’t mean it’s wrong, that it should be seen as less than or that we should discourage our children from perceiving the world in such a way. Through this exploration and wonder is how children learn about the natural world and most importantly how they learn about themselves and who they are as a person. If we take that away from them there could be potential issues related to attention deficit, diminished use of senses, and an increased rate of physical and emotional illness (Wilson 10).

Another subtopic I found particularly interesting was Play in Natural Environments, which focuses on the importance of play in natural or green environments as opposed to traditional playgrounds or indoors. The biggest difference between play in a natural environment versus a traditional playground or indoors is the fact that nature is unpredictable, real, and sensory-rich. All of these components encourage manipulation, free exploration, and imagination. Such components are amassed through an environment’s affordances, which allow for a more immersive creative play experience. Evidence has been found that play episodes in a traditional playground lasted less than 5 minutes whereas play in a natural environment lasted the full length of an observation, which was 30 minutes (Wilson 11). It has also been found that aggressive behaviour and accidents occur less often in natural play space compared to traditional playgrounds. This is something I believe would be very beneficial for parents to be made aware of because most often it’s believed that natural environments pose a greater risk for accidents leading to injury.              

This idea brings me to my next topic, which is also included under Play in Natural Environments, and that is risky play. Risky play is so important for a child’s development, especially over the age of 4, because it allows the ability to perceive and manage potential danger. Risky play is merely an imitation of real-life risks that allows a child to practice in understanding situations, assessing their own capabilities, and learning how to avoid excessive risks. If you take away the important skills that a child gains from risky play because you fear they may get injured then you will be setting yourself and your child up for a lifetime of fear. They will have no confidence in their abilities and likewise, you will never have confidence in them; confidence that they can take care and protect themselves on their own. This relates to my question: How do you address parents about risky play knowing the natural anxiety towards the safety of their children?