Nature as children's space: A systematic review

ABSTRACT

The emerging interest in “spaces of childhood” over the past two decades can be identified across numerous disciplines. A substantial body of research has indicated that children's active engagement within the natural environment is associated with a range of cognitive, physical, affective, and moral developmental benefits. Although research on children's space and place is a burgeoning field, currently only one identified systematic review exists within the literature investigating the benefits of children's engagement in nature. The aim of this article was thus to systematically review and synthesize the findings of children's understandings and engagement with nature as a space. After a systematic search of the literature, 83 articles were included in this review with study samples spanning across children aged 3 to 18 years old. The review underscores four thematic domains derived utilizing thematic analysis. It is ostensible from the results that children's perceptions of and engagement in nature as a space and place are multifarious, benefiting children's well-being in myriad ways. At a foundational level, more research is required to deepen understandings about how children in differing contexts construct nature.

KEYWORDS:

• children's environmental perceptions
• children's well-being
• nature
• space and place
• systematic review

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant number: 84779), the Children's Worlds Project (Jacobs Foundation), and the Children's Understandings of Well-Being Study for financial and institutional support. We would also like to thank the executive and consulting editors of the Journal of Environmental Education for their valuable feedback of the manuscript.

Note

Notes

1. The racial groups, that is, “coloured,” “black,” and “Indian,” were employed as racial categories within the Apartheid era to reinforce a segregated society, and refer to those who were not afforded the same benefits as “whites” in this era. These terms are used here solely for descriptive purposes, and their use does not imply acknowledgement of these terms by the authors.