What Can We Learn through Careful Observation of Infants and Toddlers in Nature?

Abstract

The authors describe a year long investigation, initiated by an intern teacher at Boulder Journey School, a school for young children in Boulder, Colorado. The teacher-researcher, noting that most of the current research on children and nature focuses on children ages 3 and older, carefully observed and reflected on the interactions of the infants in her class in nature. Her initial guiding questions about infants and nature were: What do infants do outside? Do they behave differently outside than inside? Do they interact differently inside versus outside with the same materials? Can we see differences between their interests and interactions with natural versus manmade materials? This observational research, conducted during the school year 2011-12, led to several other school-wide outdoor investigations, including a project in collaboration with Nature Explore, which are described in the article.