Nature Play: more GREEN time, less SCREEN time.

Nature Play week is celebrated across Australia in April each year, and this year the theme is, “Kids do better outside!”... and the proof is in the mud-pudding.

In a recent article in The Sector, Professor Tonia Gray from Western Sydney University remarks, “Science consistently tells us that young children learn vital life skills through play, especially outdoor play.” (Lucas, 2025).

Prioritising time for outdoor play (in structured and unstructured ways) has become increasingly important – but did you know there is an added benefit to outdoor play in nature?

Nature play offers many benefits to children’s development that we often overlook due to fear of mess, germs or risk. It is linked with positive impact on children’s mental health, physical health and their ability to problem-solve, communicate, and navigate risks on their own. Research has found that time spent in nature with peers each day can support children to be more resilient, better emotionally regulated and more confident at approaching social situations (Arola et al., 2023; Dankiw et al., 2020; Ward et al., 2017) – all benefits that we think overrule a grazed knee or muddy clothes!

In the context of Early Childhood Education and the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), nature play supports children’s sense of belonging to the world by fostering connections with nature and the community, while also promoting learning and development through discovery and exploration.

Within our environments at Confident Kids we incorporate the benefits of nature, such as natural resources and loose parts, (safe) risky play opportunities, vegetable gardens, plenty of green space, and mountains of outdoor play time!

It might feel overwhelming to ‘fit’ nature play into a busy schedule, but a study found that just by increasing a child’s ‘passive’ exposure to nature (such as going for a walk, sitting in a park, or having a picnic) there are immediate emotional, behavioural and cognitive benefits (McCormick, 2017).

Here are some easy ways you can bring nature play into your routine at home:

Sit outside and read some books together.
Have a daily ‘grounding’ ritual, where you take your shoes off and walk outside; feel the grass between your toes!
Collect some natural resources next time you’re at the beach, park, forest, and use them for loose parts play.
Plant a seed in a pot and water it each day – watch it grow and feel the connection to nature.
Visit Nature Play SA for a list of nature parks and playgrounds to visit: https://natureplaysa.org.au/activities/playgrounds/.

It’s becoming clear that the more high-tech our lives become, the more nature we need to seek. If you’d like your child to benefit from nature play in an educational and care environment, then book a tour and visit one of our centres today!

References

Arola, T., Aulake, M., Ott, A., Lindholm, M., Kouvonen, P., Virtanen, P. et al. (2023). The impacts of nature connectedness on children’s well-being: Systematic literature review. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 85(101913), 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101913

Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), 2019. Belonging, being & becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Available at: https://www.acecqa.gov.au/belonging-being-becoming-early-years-learning-framework

Lucas.F (2025), The Sector, Educators encouraged to embrace benefits of outdoor play during Nature Play Week, https://thesector.com.au/2025/04/07/educators-encouraged-to-embrace-benefits-of-outdoor-play-during-nature-play-week/ [accessed April 2025].

McCormick, R. (2017). Does access to green space impact the mental well-being of children: A systematic review. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 37(2017), 3-7.