Browsing by Author "Myllyniemi, Kirsi"

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract The goal of this study was to research the nature experiences of children going to kindergarten and pre-school, as well as the environmental educators’ thoughts about children’s nature experiences. The focus is on the nature experiences, which according to the educators, have a positive effect on the well-being of the children and their learning in nature. The aim of this study was also to research how the children’s participation can be seen in the environmental education. The previous research has shown that the nature is a varied learning environment that offers lots of possibilities for learning and that activities in nature and children’s participation have a positive effect on the well-being. For this study I interviewed seven 4-6 years old children going to a nature kindergarten and three experts in environmental education. The experts had lot of experience of the nature activities with children. The themed interviews with the experts were arranged individually whilst the children were interviewed in two separate groups. The qualitative data from the interviews was analysed using the theming method of the theory-based content analysis. This study sees the regular, unhurried, time spent in the nature as an important facilitator of experiences of well-being and learning. According to the environmental educators, building a relationship to nature has an important role in the environmental education of the children under school age. The nature as a learning environment offered ample possibilities to different activities as well as varied sensory and motor experiences. Observing and studying the nature were seen as important ways of learning. The participation of the children was seen as beneficial for well-being and learning. The children had biggest possibilities for influencing, when they were playing. Also the child-oriented approach, children’s participation and playing were seen as important factors in environmental education. As a conclusion, the nature seems to have positive effects on the well-being and learning experiences of the children. The child’s own participation has an important role in the nature education of the children.