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Outdoor Learning and Children’s Mental Health

5 min read

Over recent years, we’ve seen an increasing amount of reported mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, and not just in adults. An NHS study in recent years reported that one in five 8-25 year-olds now have “probable mental health disorders”, compared to one in nine in 2017. 

While this is undoubtedly partly due to the circumstances of the global pandemic, children are also coping with more stimulus than any previous generation and many have limited access to the green spaces and active outdoor play which are shown to improve sleep quality and self-esteem, as well as reducing the risks of developing mental health disorders. 

With this in mind, outdoor classrooms and external playground environments can be one incredible tool to help improve mental health and wellbeing of the children at your school. There’s no easy fix for student’s mental health, but in this post, we will explore how outdoor education can be a step in the right direction - helping students to develop crucial skills, reconnect with nature, let go of stress, and more. 

Changing Spaces 

A common therapy technique for changing harmful patterns of behaviour or spiralling thoughts is to physically move into a new space.  

Despite the best efforts of teachers, some children still interpret traditional classrooms as a place of struggle or disinterest. By moving a lesson outside, learning can cast off some of those preconceptions and make children feel like they have a clean slate in terms of the feelings and behaviours they have grown used to in class.

This makes way for more positive attitudes towards school and learning and can help with everyday feelings of enjoyment, motivation, and self-esteem.  

Vitamin D 

Vitamin D is a crucial nutrient for children's brain development and mental health with adequate levels potentially reducing risks of depression, anxiety and behavioural issues. It regulates neurotransmitters like serotonin to improve mood and support cognitive function.

Higher UVB levels are also linked to physical and mental well-being, and both of these correlates with safe exposure to sunlight.  

During the darker months, it’s difficult for students to get healthy time out in the sunshine. In winter, children often arrive at school when it’s still dark and leave school just before sunset. At this time of the year, it’s also common for outside breaks and lunchtimes to be cancelled due to poor weather, meaning students can get little to no sunlight exposure over a day. 

Outdoor classrooms and education programs mean teachers can be more flexible about the time children can take advantage of better weather. Even when it is a little wet, having more outdoor shelters means children may still be able to go out for some fresh air without fear of being completely soaked.  

Developing Social and Collaborative Skills 

Outdoor learning environments are also natural places to develop the social and collaborative skills which can help children to build rewarding friendships and relationships.  

Many outdoor classrooms can be tailored to suit your needs and your space. This could include a Gazebo that has internal seating on the periphery of the space which can create more socially supportive environments for collaborative discussion than traditional classroom layouts. Others have flexible seating like beanbags or grass-top stools, which can be moved around for small group work, creating a versatile and ever changing social environment. 

Outdoor activities commonly use group work. The larger outdoor environments means students can be creative and physical with activities on a larger scale more easily than indoors. Allowing freedom for group activities such as drawing murals, constructing large structures, or putting together dramas to perform. 

Interacting with Nature 

Links have been drawn between mental wellbeing and time spent in nature for many years, but it’s only recently that there have been studies which look directly at the impact time spent in green spaces can have on children.  

A study from the University of Glasgow recently reviewed research in this area and found that children who spent just 60 minutes a day in nature and the outdoors had a 50% lower risk of mental health related issues. 

Notably, the benefits were greatest for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly in terms of improved behaviour and social skills. This suggests that, while exercise is an element of why being outside helps to boost mental wellbeing, interacting with nature in any way can also have a huge impact. Why does it have such benefits? There’s no one reason, but many.  For one, nature provides a rich sensory experience - the smells of flowers, the feeling of earth, the sound of the wind. This can help to keep you in the current moment rather than worrying about the past or future. This can be rare in the modern day of constant notifications and stimulating experiences, even for children. 

In addition, there’s often a focus on physical tasks to accomplish outdoors, whether you’re moving from one space to another or tending a garden. This can similarly help students to keep their mind in the moment, appreciate their own abilities, and focus on small successes.  

There may also be an evolutionary element: for thousands of years, humans spent most of their time in the outdoors, and reducing that time so drastically in favour of screens may affect us in ways we can’t understand yet.  

Being outside in the sunlight can match with what your circadian rhythm craves at certain times of the day and stimulates the serotonin which helps humans to feel happy and at peace. It can also help to foster feelings of connection to the earth at large, besides which day-to-day worries can seem smaller. 

Benefits of Outdoor Exercise 

Physical exercise is shown to help everyone to manage stress and anxiety, it encourages the body to release endorphins and gives the brain achievable tasks to focus on.

There are clear links to outside exercise being linked to higher levels of life satisfaction and happiness. For children, it has the added bonus of helping to develop motor skills such as coordination and balance which can help them thrive in many different areas of life. 

For teenagers, time to focus on what their bodies can do rather than how they appear to others has also been shown to improve self-esteem, particularly when taking part in outdoor and adventurous pursuits with peers.  

Outdoor classrooms encourage teachers to plan for pupils to spend more time outside, with many outdoor education lessons involving elements of physical activity and time in nature which make the most of your outdoor classroom and outdoor setting.