Outdoor Learning Part 4: Forest Nature Schools and Mental Wellbeing

This multi-part series of blog posts on Outdoor Learning has been adapted from a Final Academic Paper for one of my Early Childhood Development courses at the University of Winnipeg.

The Medicine Wheel is a First Nations teaching that considers a person’s wellbeing to include “mental, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects of the self” (Jagger, p. 7). The next few blog posts in this series use these four domains of wellbeing to review how outdoor learning can support children’s overall wellbeing leading to positive outcomes and increased capacity to thrive. This post, Part 4, focuses on mental wellbeing. 

Outdoor Learning & Attention 

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses have been continuously rising in children over the last few decades. While there are varying reasons and hypotheses for this trend, an increased recognition and awareness of ADHD has encouraged many educators to consider teaching methods that are more inclusive to neurodiversity, or different learning styles. Early research suggests outdoor learning as a supportive environment for children with or without an ADHD diagnosis to develop attention skills.

“Children who played in large and integrated natural areas showed significantly less inattention… with lower measures of impulsivity” (Sella et al., p. 29). 

While discussions of attention are commonly focused on the length of time a child is attentive for, research suggests it also includes quality of attention where high-curious children explored shorter and learned more. By using an emergent and inquiry-based curriculum, FNS can help children develop a similar innate curiosity for learning where their personal interests are encouraged and supported by educators. FNS offers “an ideal learning atmosphere that allows children’s curiosity to become both focused and expansive” as their attention develops along their personal lives and interests (MacEachren, p. 226). 

Outdoor Learning & Agency

Most outdoor learning programs use a more autonomous, inquiry-based learning approach than in indoor classroom settings. Typically guided by an emergent curriculum, “the children [learn] to ask questions, and the educators [learn] alongside the children, finding answers or asking more questions” (Jagger, p. 315). Children at FNS are often involved in planning for the day and encouraged towards open-ended learning.

“Children have a choice, in what activities they chose to do, how to do and develop those activities, including questions arising from them. They also have the space and agency to choose who they will work with, and where they will do activities – whether that be at the centre of a group, or in the periphery, busy or calm.” (Harris, p. 3)

Amidst an unstructured, changing, outdoor environment children practice decision-making skills that are reflective of daily realities by building and negotiating personal goals as a response to their own desires. There are many paths they might take, choosing free play, continuing where they had left off previously, or participating in offered activities.

“The ethos of forest school includes a recognition that children may engage at different levels, with variable ways of addressing a task, and goals. So, children can ‘start where they are at’ [each day] rather than being linked to a particular point in the national curriculum.” (Harris, p.8).

This approach supports children’s problem solving skills and creativity, with nature offering both tools and creative stimulus. Research demonstrates students at forest preschools score higher than indoor preschools in “all the creative dimensions assessed (fluency, originality, and imagination)” (Sella et al., p. 12). When children have agency in their own learning process, they are also more likely to develop a love of learning. 

Outdoor Learning & Mental Health 

Outdoor learning has shown to have many mental health benefits for children. Many children find nature-based learning to be more stimulating than an indoor environment, offering more memorable learning experiences. Some children who experience pressure from the physical demands of walls and indoor space as well as the mental demands of national curriculum goals are better able to thrive in FNS where they are encouraged to follow their personal interests. This supports their development of an intrinsic motivation to learn, with a more positive relationship to learning. Karavida et al. (2020) also observe:

“In the natural environment children do not need to stifle energy, motion and noise levels, as it is necessary in [indoor] preschool settings. This reduces the need for children to control and suppress their imagination and actions, which is often stressful for children” (p. 119). 

Sources:

Abdelnour, E. et al. (2022), ADHD Diagnostic Trends: Increased Recognition or Overdiagnosis?, Science of Medicine, 119(5), 467-473. 

Blenkinsop, S. et al. (2016). A surprising discovery: five pedagogical skills outdoor and experiential educators might offer more mainstream educators in this time of change, Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 16(4), 346-358. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2016.1163272. 

Boileau, E. & Dabaja, Z. (July 2020). Forest School practice in Canada: a survey study, Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 23, 225-240. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-020-00057-4. 

Bowra, A. et al. (2020). Indigenous learning on Turtle Island: A review of the literature on land-based learning, The Canadian Geographer, 65(2), 132-140. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12659. 

Fjørtoft, I. (2001). The Natural Environment as a Playground for Children: The Impact of Outdoor Play Activities in Pre-Primary School Children, Early Childhood Education Journal, 29(2), 111-117. 

Forest School Canada. (June, 2014). Forest and Nature School in Canada: A Head, Heart, Hands Approach to Outdoor Learning. https://assets.ctfassets.net/e09p19lzfrfe/5RyDjPIySeoIFEJIpdzrdQ/c5933ef778e930792a3e80792d841457/FSC-Guide_web.pdf. 

Harris, F. (August, 2025). Journeys through forest school: a model for understanding diverse educational experiences of children, Environmental Education Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2025.2529544. 

Jagger, S. (Ed.). (2025). Early years education and care in Canada: Engaging with the past,

the present, and future possibilities (2nd ed.). Canadian Scholars.

Karavida, V. et al. (December, 2020), Forest Schools: An Alternative Learning Approach at the Preschool Age, Journal of Education & Social Policy, 7(4), 116-120. http://dx.doi.org/10.30845/jesp.v7n4p12. 

MacEachren, Z. (2013). The Canadian Forest School Movement, LEARNing Landscapes, 7(1), 219-233. 

McCree, M. et al. (2018). The Hare and the Tortoise go to Forest School: taking the scenic route to academic attainment via emotional wellbeing outdoors, Early Child Development and Care, 188(7), 980-996. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2018.1446430. 

M’Lot, C & Ferguson, K. (Eds.) (2025). Renewal: Indigenous Perspectives on Land-Based Education In and Beyond the Classroom. Portage & Main Press.

Outdoor Play Canada. (May, 2024). Appendix C - Outdoor ECE Database. https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/portfolio_page/outdoor-ece-database/. 

Parsons, K.J. & Traunter, J. (2020). Muddy knees and muddy needs: parents perceptions of outdoor learning, Children’s Geographies, 18(6), 699-711, https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2019.1694637. 

Sella, E. et al. (March, 2023). Psychological Benefits of Attending Forest School for Preschool Children: a Systematic Review, Educational Psychology Review, 35(29). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09750-4. 

Van Schijndel, T. & Jansen, B. (2025). Integrating lines of research on children’s curiosity-driven learning, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 252.