Plant Yourself Where Language Blooms

Direct Experience of Nature Changes How Parents and Children Talk about Nature

Abstract

The current study investigated the affordancesof direct and indirect experience of nature on parent-child talk. Parents and children produced a wider range of nature words when exploring a park (direct experience) than when exploring athematicallymatchedindoor visitorcenter (indirect experience). Parents and children also produced more plant-related nature word types when exploring the parkcompared to the visitor center. Findings suggest that direct experience of nature increases the diversity and specificity of parent-child talkabout nature,andmitigatesthe phenomenonof “plant blindness”(cf. Wandersee & Schussler, 1999). Direct experience ofnature provides an optimal context forchildren to learn the language of nature and consequently to cultivate children's status as custodiansof the natural world.