Children's relationship to plants among primary school children in Finland

Children's interest and relationship to nature and vegetation varies by context (urban vs. rural) and gender

The purpose of this study by Laaksoharju and Rappe was to investigate the role that vegetation plays in the lives of 9- to 10-year-old Finnish schoolchildren from urban and rural areas. Researchers were particularly interested in examining gender differences, as well as urban and rural differences. They were also interested in whether a classroom-based horticultural activity would affect children’s knowledge and connection to nature. Further, the researchers were interested in whether or not there was evidence to indicate that a traditionally nature-oriented country such as Finland might be at risk of their children’s loss of direct connections with nature.

As part of this study, 76 urban and rural children completed a survey about vegetation in their lives that included open-ended as well as structured questions. Each child was also asked to complete a drawing task to assess their ability to draw a plant and represent its anatomy. The survey included both structured and open-ended questions. In addition, Laaksoharju and Rappe assessed the impact of a small horticultural intervention in which 42 urban children learned about fruit plants through a series of indoor, hands-on classroom sessions that included background information, planting a seed, caring for it, and taking it home at the conclusion of the activity. These urban students also completed a post-intervention survey.

In analyzing the data, researchers found that rural children had closer contact with nature and green plants than urban children and that girls were more interested in vegetation than boys. For example, rural children knew trees by name better than urban children and girls were more interested in learning about plants than boys. Only the rural children reported such activities as visiting berry bushes and building huts in the woods. With regard to the horticultural intervention, Laaksoharju and Rappe found that children’s general knowledge about plants improved somewhat, and speculated the knowledge might have increased if the intervention had occurred outdoors rather than in an indoor classroom setting.