Britain's hedgerows, parks, coastlines and woodlands are one of the richest play environments on earth. Here is how to use them.
Edward O. Wilson's biophilia hypothesis proposes that humans have an evolved affinity for other living things, and that engagement with the natural world is psychologically restorative in ways that built environments are not. Research by Frances Kuo and William Sullivan in urban Chicago showed that children living in apartments with green views (trees, grass) showed significantly better attention and self-regulation than those with no natural views. The implications for urban families are significant: even small doses of nature, a park, a garden strip, a window box, produce measurable benefits.
Key citation
Wilson, E.O. (1984). Biophilia. Harvard University Press · Kuo, F.E. & Sullivan, W.C. (2001). Aggression and violence in the inner city. Environment and Behavior
Britain's native wildlife, foxes, hedgehogs, robins, red squirrels, mallard ducks, puffins, red deer, river otters, is among the most storied and emotionally resonant in the world. Children who learn the names and habits of their local wildlife develop what the naturalist Robert Macfarlane calls "ecological literacy", the capacity to read the natural world. A child who knows the fox is called Felix, who has played with a wooden fox, who has seen the word "fox" and heard the story, that child notices the fox in the hedge in a way a screenbound child does not.
Free: British Wildlife Spotter Sheet → Free: Garden Bug Hunt Cards →Britain's oldest toy maker. Every toy open-ended, wooden, and built for exactly the kind of play the research recommends.