IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i13p7443-d587613.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contributions to Sustainability through Young Children’s Nature Play: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Julie Ernst

    (Environmental Education, Applied Human Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA)

  • Kerri McAllister

    (Environmental Education Graduate Program, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA)

  • Pirkko Siklander

    (Learning and Educational Technology Research Unit, University of Oulu, FI-90014 Oulu, Finland)

  • Rune Storli

    (Physical Education, Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education, N-7044 Trondheim, Norway)

Abstract

Nature play with young children has been criticized for lacking the transformative power necessary for meaningfully contributing to sustainability issues. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify outcomes associated with young children’s nature play that align with Education for Sustainability outcomes, toward addressing the question of its contribution to a more sustainable future. A total of 272 citation records were screened using eligibility and quality appraisal criteria, resulting in 32 studies that were reviewed. These studies’ outcomes were coded and then mapped to an education for sustainability framework. Results suggest that nature play supports education for sustainability benchmarks of applied knowledge, dispositions, skills, and applications. The multiple and varied relevant outcomes associated with nature play suggest practitioners should not abandon nature play in the pursuit of sustainability. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie Ernst & Kerri McAllister & Pirkko Siklander & Rune Storli, 2021. "Contributions to Sustainability through Young Children’s Nature Play: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-36, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7443-:d:587613
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7443/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/13/7443/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexia Barrable & David Booth, 2020. "Nature Connection in Early Childhood: A Quantitative Cross-Sectional Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Kunchamboo, Vimala & Lee, Christina K.C. & Brace-Govan, Jan, 2017. "Nature as extended-self: Sacred nature relationship and implications for responsible consumption behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 126-132.
    3. Julie Ernst & Firdevs Burcak, 2019. "Young Children’s Contributions to Sustainability: The Influence of Nature Play on Curiosity, Executive Function Skills, Creative Thinking, and Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-22, August.
    4. Marit Heldal & Trond Løge Hagen & Ingvild Olsen Olaussen & Gry Mette D. Haugen, 2021. "Social Sustainable Education in a Refugee Camp," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Luca Petrigna & Federico Roggio & Bruno Trovato & Marta Zanghì & Giuseppe Musumeci, 2022. "Are Physically Active Breaks in School-Aged Children Performed Outdoors? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-12, March.
    2. Luca Petrigna & Ewan Thomas & Antonino Scardina & Federica Rizzo & Jessica Brusa & Giovanni Camarazza & Claudia Galassi & Antonio Palma & Marianna Bellafiore, 2022. "Methodological Considerations for Movement Education Interventions in Natural Environments for Primary School Children: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Avril Johnstone & Anne Martin & Rita Cordovil & Ingunn Fjørtoft & Susanna Iivonen & Boris Jidovtseff & Frederico Lopes & John J. Reilly & Hilary Thomson & Valerie Wells & Paul McCrorie, 2022. "Nature-Based Early Childhood Education and Children’s Social, Emotional and Cognitive Development: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-30, May.
    2. Song Yao & Kui Liu, 2022. "The Relationship between Extensive Application of Technology and “Withdrawal from Nature” of Young People," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-13, June.
    3. Jorge Rojo-Ramos & Fernando Manzano-Redondo & Sabina Barrios-Fernandez & Miguel Angel García-Gordillo & José Carmelo Adsuar, 2021. "Early Childhood Education Teachers’ Perception of Outdoor Learning Activities in the Spanish Region of Extremadura," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-12, August.
    4. Sixian Li & Qianyi Jiang & Chenyu Deng, 2022. "The Development and Validation of an Outdoor Free Play Scale for Preschool Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Wang, Zi & Yuan, Ruizhi & Luo, Jun & Liu, Martin J., 2022. "Redefining “masstige” luxury consumption in the post-COVID era," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 239-254.
    6. Serap Sevimli-Celik & Begum Canaslan-Akyar, 2024. "Pre-schoolers in nature: A five-week play & learning experience within a Turkish context," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(1), pages 87-101, March.
    7. Ahmad AlShwawra, 2021. "Syrian Refugees’ Integration Policies in Jordanian Labor Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-16, June.
    8. Claudia Melis & Per-Arvid Wold & Kathrine Bjørgen & Børge Moe, 2020. "Norwegian Kindergarten Children’s Knowledge about the Environmental Component of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Yan Yang & Jing Hu & Fengjie Jing & Bang Nguyen, 2018. "From Awe to Ecological Behavior: The Mediating Role of Connectedness to Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, July.
    10. Riegger, Anne-Sophie & Merfeld, Katrin & Klein, Jan F. & Henkel, Sven, 2022. "Technology-enabled personalization: Impact of smart technology choice on consumer shopping behavior," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    11. Johan Colding & Matteo Giusti & Andreas Haga & Marita Wallhagen & Stephan Barthel, 2020. "Enabling Relationships with Nature in Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, May.
    12. Thomas Beery & Ola Magntorn, 2021. "Pre-Service Early Childhood Educator Experience in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    13. Kar Hoong Chan & Lee Lee Chong & Tuan Hock Ng, 2020. "Are Malaysian Companies Ready for Environmental Practices? An Extension of Theory of Planned Behavior," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(1), pages 495-507.
    14. Miriam Romero-López & M. Carmen Pichardo & Judit Bembibre-Serrano & Trinidad García-Berbén, 2020. "Promoting Social Competence in Preschool with an Executive Functions Program Conducted by Teachers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-17, May.
    15. Thomas Beery, 2020. "Exploring Access to Nature Play in Urban Parks: Resilience, Sustainability, and Early Childhood," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-18, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:13:p:7443-:d:587613. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.