Children’s outdoor play and time in Denmark may be on the rise – what’s next?
Thank you to Søren Præstholm, Head of Children & Nature Denmark for providing this post.
In recent decades, national surveys in Denmark have identified a substantial decrease in the time spent outside and in nature among children compared with earlier generations – similar to trends in many other countries. However, a new national survey of more than 4,500 children indicates a stagnation in this trend. It shows similar total time spent outside and even an increase in frequency of visits to nature, parks and urban green spaces compared with numbers from 2018 when a similar survey was conducted.
“This was really a surprise to us, and we had to do an extra check of the data”, says Søren Præstholm, Head of Children & Nature Denmark. But with 4,500 responses and similar questions as previous surveys, Præstholm is optimistic that the trend of decreasing children’s outdoor play has ceased and may even be on the rise.
“We find that about half of both the parents and the children are motivated to spend more time in nature and green spaces”, he continues. Nine out of ten children like to spend time outside, and eight out of ten find that “being in nature makes me very happy”.
The survey also shows that parents often perceive themselves as a barrier to the amount of time that their child spends in nature. They find that they fail to inspire their child enough or to take them to nature but are also worried about letting children roam on their own. What parents are not concerned about, counter to many other parts of the world, is their child getting injured during play in nature. Questions to the children (8-15 years) reveal that they are most likely to see time pressure due to school, other leisure activities or time at screens as barriers to more outdoor play.
One of the ways to overcome some of these barriers would be to make nature experiences available close to where the kids already are during their daily activities. Professor of outdoor learning and outdoor pedagogy, Peter Bentsen, represents one of the partners with Children & Nature Denmark. He proposes making the schools’ outdoor environment more attractive and including natural elements and opportunities for supplementary nature experiences and play in the area near the schools. “This would further provide good opportunities for teaching the regular school curriculum outside the classroom. We know from our research that education outside the classroom motivates the children for school, makes many children more physically active and that it can cater for play, social interactions, and well-being”.
He further emphasizes that concerns expressed by parents in the survey should also be addressed: “We need to inspire parents and families and show that it is not that complicated to play outside”. Bentsen mentions ‘Nature Families’ as one example that he has been involved in. The campaign provides inspirational material and offers a local digital platform where families can meet and arrange activities in nature together. “On one hand, Nature Families has been successful, but on the other hand, it has also shown that the program and materials are not reaching all types of families. We need to help families, but I still think the kindergartens, the preschools and the schools are the most important arenas if we want to inspire all children to play, learn and thrive in nature”, says Bentsen.
For more information, check out:
Children & Nature Denmark: https://centerforboernognatur.dk/
Research in outdoor learning: https://centerforboernognatur.dk/children-and-nature-denmark/projects/teachout/
Nature Families: https://www.naturfamilier.dk/
Peter Bentsen and Søren Præstholm are affiliated with University of Copenhagen, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, that hosts Children & Nature Denmark.
Photo credit: From the front page of the report on the national survey;