Round Up

If you spent your childhood climbing trees and catching frogs, chances are your kids get outside more, too. That’s the takeaway from a survey of 1,000 Tokyo-area families: Parents’ early outdoor adventures seemed to deepen their connection to nature, and that connection was linked to kids spending time outside. So what if you, dear parent, didn’t grow up outdoors? Start a new tradition, and let your kids be the first generation in your family to fall in love with nature. Scientific Reports.

We know time outdoors can sharpen kids’ focus and even improve reading and math scores. But does any patch of green do the trick? WashU researchers dug into data on roughly 12,000 American children to find out. A strip of grass won’t cut it, and exercise didn’t explain the boost. Kids living near tree canopy and parks scored better on attention and achievement tests, and cleaner air seemed to play a role. “People need something to be occupying them a little bit — but not too much,” says the study’s lead author Carina Fowler. “Nature can provide that really well.” The Source.

Is your kid a mud-and-beetles explorer or more of a tidy-garden type? Duke researcher Vanessa Woods noticed that split between her two children, and it sparked a study of 295 kids ages 3 to 13 in North Carolina and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The surprise: Fear and fascination aren’t opposites. Kids who were scared of spiders were just as likely as their fearless peers to welcome butterflies and beetles into their yards. Her advice for parents: “Don’t give up on your kid because they are terrified of one forest creature.” There’s still room for wonder. Duke University.

What’s your earliest memory of a tree? In India, licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Ashwini Tadpatrikar’s university ecopsychology team asked people that very question. For many, trees were childhood companions, places to play and quiet sources of comfort. “Nature was not an activity to be scheduled. It was part of growing up,” she writes. She encourages a fresh take on digital detox: Put the phone away, take a child for a walk among the trees, touch the bark, and notice the breeze, the birdsong and the light through the leaves. Deccan Herald.

For Native youth in programs backed by New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund, time outside is about more than visiting a beautiful place. These experiences “can mean connecting with landscapes they know through stories, songs and prayers and learning about places where their ancestors lived and cared for the land,” says Chas Robles of Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps. Since 2019, the fund has awarded about $12.8 million statewide, including to 241 tribal and rural groups. Now applications are up 141% and nearly half go unfunded, so supporters are urging lawmakers to double the fund to $10 million a year. New Mexico In Depth.

Risky play lets kids have thrilling adventures within boundaries — think climbing a tree, paddling a stream or biking fast downhill. In a review of 74 studies, scientists at University of Exeter and University of British Columbia found that kids with more chances for risky play tend to have stronger physical and mental health, social skills and cognitive development. “If we focus only on keeping children safe and remove the opportunity for them to explore risks in their play, we are doing them a disservice,” says Professor Helen Dodd, director of Exeter’s Outdoor Play Research Centre. University of Exeter.

Yes, please! A new study pooled 30 systematic reviews and found nature-based activities, from gardening to viewing greenery, eased anxiety and depression, lowered heart rate and boosted relaxation. The effects resemble those of cognitive behavioural therapy, though it’s not a head-to-head test. These results are promising: Low-cost, accessible, nature could help those who haven’t responded to medication, families wary of side effects in kids and anyone facing long waits or high costs. Psychology Today.

Ask Violet Clinton that question, and she’ll give it to you straight: “They’re important pollinators that people haven’t thought about already.” For seven months, the 16-year-old has been tracking moths in a New York preserve for a school research project. Entomologists call her project “impossibly ambitious,” and her field research won second place against college and graduate students in a Lepidopterists’ Society competition. Read on to learn how it all began at age 7 (spoiler: sidewalk caterpillars!) and her recipe for moth bait (it includes beer that her dad buys for her) The New York Times.

We wrote about One Million Kids Outdoors at its June launch. The Children & Nature Network is one of many partners on the initiative, and we’re really proud to say — huzzah, the initiative has reached 250,000 kids! That’s one-fourth of its summer 2027 goal. “Getting outside can help kids build healthier bodies and feel more confident, and a single outing can be the start of a lifelong love for the outdoors,” says Julia Hurwit of the Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK). “We’ll keep working to ensure every child has that chance.” Hear, hear! Sierra Club.

As Philadelphia’s nearly 200-year-old Academy of Natural Sciences closes, retired research chemist Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., mourns what’s been lost. In this impassioned essay, she argues that the problem starts in the classroom: Since the 1990s, a biology degree hasn’t required a natural history course, and public school teachers need no formal training in natural sciences. Kids have few guides to the living world — and they spend 5 to 8 hours a day on screens and less than 1 hour daily outdoors. She calls for bringing natural history back, citing the words of author and Children & Nature Network co-founder Richard Louv: “We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see.” The Marietta Times.

“Nature is such an extraordinary environment for us all and, in this tech-driven, digital age, spending quality time outdoors has never been more important,” says Catherine, the Princess of Wales, who has launched a project using nature to support young children’s social and emotional development. Part of her early years campaign, it will explore how nature, creativity and relationships help babies and young children thrive. The princess, who called nature her “sanctuary” during her recovery from cancer, hopes the research will make nature more accessible to families across the U.K. BBC.

“My mom doesn’t let me climb because I bumped my nose once.” In a recent study, researchers from Nottingham Trent University found that when 3- to 5-year-olds steer clear of mud and climbing equipment, it’s often because of messages they hear from adults, like, “Be careful,” or “Watch out.” The researchers helped a preschool rearrange equipment, add aprons for messy play and swap warnings for trust: “What’s your plan for climbing that?” and “I’m here if you need me.” Within weeks of the changes, kids were more confident and more likely to engage in risky, multi-sensory nature play. Phys.org.

California’s heat is stretching into the school year. During the October 5 heat wave, nearly half of the state’s public schools were in areas with a high or severe heat risk — almost twice that of the heat wave in August. An analysis found that almost half of California’s K-12 students attend schools with very little tree canopy. Enter green schoolyards. Through a CalFire grant program, 215 California schools are getting makeovers, like Sacramento’s Parkway Elementary, where 58 trees, 44 shrubs and climbing logs now stand in place of blacktop. Providing shade means kids get to spend more time outside, with more opportunity for play and a boost in student well-being and learning. One study found that bullying and antisocial interactions dropped 40% to 50% after schoolyard greening. EdSource.

Boston University student Rachel Selby would like more young adults to connect with nature — for their mental health. “A lot of young adults feel very disconnected from their natural environment,” she says. And yet, she explains, “there’s a lot of evidence that nature can be a very powerful tool for relaxation and restoration.” Through a fellowship, Selby built an eight-week, peer-led curriculum that pairs mindfulness walks, species-identification outings and nature-based art therapy. She also met Massachusetts State Senator Liz Miranda to discuss a bill that would recognize nature-based mental health interventions. BU Innovate.

The harvest mouse is Britain’s smallest native rodent, using their prehensile tails to scramble up grass stems. But habitat loss has made these super cute mice a “near threatened” species. Rather than watch them disappear, teens Eva Wishart and Emily Smith bred 250 mice in their garages and released them on a Devon nature reserve. Now, the 14-year-olds are recruiting kids to help raise 250 more. Eva likes sharing her passion for ecology with peers, saying that after doing a mouse show-and-tell at school, “It was the most popular I’ve ever been.” The Guardian.

As the sun sinks over a community garden in Providence, Rhode Island, visitors in headlamps count moths, spotting a whopping 58 species by night’s end. This awe-filled event is led by Melissa Guillet, founder of 15 Minute Field Trips. As an elementary art teacher, she learned that even just spending 15 minutes outside could spark a child’s curiosity and love for nature. Now her programs have kids playing nature detective, studying how animals survive in the wild, growing plants in mini greenhouses — and learning to notice the greenspaces and critters they encounter in their daily lives. She’s found acquaintance eases fear: Kids once terrified of bees are soon catching bumblebees in cups. ecoRI News.

Hanae Bettencourt of Birds Connect Seattle says kids can start birding just by looking out the window. Once they notice that one bird looks different from the next, she says, birding becomes a bit like collecting Pokémon. Case in point: Emma Perez was a reluctant hiker ‘til she took up photographing birds at age 8. Now a high school freshman and part of Birds Connect’s Young Birders program, Emma has a soft spot for migratory birds. “They’re sitting on your feeder for five minutes just relaxing in the rain, and you can tell that this is an amazing feast for them,” she says. Seattle’s Child.

When was the last time you saw kids playing in your neighborhood by themselves? Traffic fears, screen time and a loss of trust between neighbors are among the modern forces pushing kids indoors — even when they’d rather be outside with friends. In this piece, New Zealand experts argue that independent play builds confidence, resilience and the real-world skills that kids need and crave. If sending the kids outside makes you nervous, you’re not alone! Parent coach Kristin Ward says the secret is to start small: “Start with outings that are just a little stretch. Could they go with an older sibling to a local park for just 10 minutes?” RNZ.

In the past 200 years, human connection to nature has declined by 60% while urbanization has climbed 47% — and by 2050, most of us will be living in cities. In a recent op-ed, writer and college student Damaris Gonzalez argues that shrinking access to greenspace could impact our ability to build empathy — for nature and each other. While kids who don’t get enough quality time outside can become fearful of nature, those who do can develop a sense of responsibility for the planet and an “emotional resonance” with the world beyond their community. “We have a great capacity to connect and experience wonder,” says one expert. “[That] won’t develop unless we’re given opportunities to experience it.” Daily Titan.

Juma Xipaia, Brazil’s first secretary of Indigenous Rights, has spent years defending Xipaya territory against mining and land-grabbing. Now she’s the protagonist and a producer of “YANUNI,” a documentary following her from the Brazilian Amazon to the political frontlines. In this compelling interview, Xipaia talks about the importance of shaping her own story, which she hopes will be a tool to galvanize the broader Indigenous rights movement — helping people understand why her community risks their lives to defend the Amazon. The film is named for her daughter, and Xipaia opens up about how motherhood sharpened the stakes of that fight. “I don’t want my sons and daughters to have to go through violent situations and to be silenced just as I was,” she says. “I want them to have a forest. I want them to be respected, to live happily, and to be able to enjoy territory with clean water and clean air.” Atmos.