‘In the best interests of the child’: juggling the geography of children's gardens (between adult agendas and children's needs)

Abstract

This review paper presents literature, particularly in children's geographies, in support of the proposition that the rationales for the current children's garden movement flourishing particularly in the United States, albeit well-intentioned, continue to be dominated by adult discourses acting ‘in the best interests of the child’. The paper concludes that broadening the debate on ‘children and gardens’ through inclusion of research that focuses on children's competence and empowerment offers a different perspective of what children might want from these spaces. This highlights new directions for research on children's gardens which would focus this garden typology more on children's needs than adult agendas, and therefore contribute positively to development of these gardens as sustainable environments for children's learning and enjoyment of nature.

Keywords:

• children's gardens
• adult discourses
• nature
• health
• pro-environmental behavior

Notes

The term ‘children’ in this review is used to represent both children and youth although many children's gardens cater principally to ages between preschool and beginning of the teens.

For examples refer to Tai, L., Taylor-Haque, M., McLellan, G. and Knight, E.J., 2006. Designing outdoor environments for children: landscaping schoolyards, gardens and playgrounds. USA: McGraw-Hill. The following websites have children's garden examples or relevant resource material: www.naturalearning.org; www.winterthur.org; www.4hgarden.msu.edu; www.huntington.org; www.mortonarb.org; www.nybg.org

While there is an annual American Horticultural Society Children's and Youth Gardening Symposium in the United States (www.ahs.org) it does not publish proceedings.