Browsing by Author "Paananen, Matilda"

The alienation from nature among the younger generations has become a concern in stud- ies as well as in the media during recent years. Separation from nature easily leads to the exploitation of nature in a damaging way. The desire to take good care of nature develops during childhood through a positive relationship with nature. The aim of this study was to research the development of child's relationship with nature. The study examines the structure of the child's natural relationship from the perspectives of the family and the growing environment, school and outdoor activities. This research is a descriptive literature review. The research data consisted of articles collected from six different databases. The articles were peer reviewed and published in the 21st century. Individual keywords and combinations of keywords were used to find the data. The keywords in Finnish were luontosuhde, luontoliikunta, luonto and lapsi. English searches were made by the keywords nature connection, human-nature connection, nature relationship, nature, children, outdoor education and outdoor physical education. According to this study, it can be stated that growth environment, family, school and nature activities are all important for a child when developing a relationship with nature. The relationship with nature develops stronger in children living in rural areas compared to those living in urban areas. Parents, in turn, help in constructing this relationship by conveying values and attitudes towards nature. Outdoor activities provide the child with experiences and perceptions on which to construct a relationship with nature. In school, connection to nature can be promoted through environmental education and by providing information on nature. The results of this study can be used especially in education, by taking into account children’s growing environments, by cooperating with parents and by providing nature experiences that children may not have at home. Further research could identify what could be done at school in order to increase children’s interest in nature or the factors that attract children to nature in general. From a school perspective, it might be interesting to study how much individual forest trips or outdoor education during the school day affect children's interest in nature?