Free play and the importance of the environment on development.

Here is an outstanding selection of articles about the importance of play and learning from Nature. By examining the effect the environment has on children’s ability to play, author Barbara Kiser, demonstrates how, “…infant scientists and young explorers thrive in the open air and through free play…”  

Accompanying this article is industrial and playground designer, Günter Beltzig’s analysis on the need to rethink playground design so that it takes into account the depth of research that already exists regarding free play and learning. 

“There is still no academic underpinning to playground-design theory, even though there is for graveyard design. The body of knowledge on children's behavior gathered by educationalists, psychologists and neuroscientists has not permeated playground design, so most such spaces fail to inspire play and the physical, emotional, social and psychological development that it engenders.” -Günter Beltzig

Read the full articles at Nature.com

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Immersive, dynamic and multidimensional, nature can stimulate and engage the whole child.