Connecting Children With Nature

 I have watched children who struggle to focus on activities inside the classroom, engage happily for long periods of time ‘collecting’ from the garden. The dynamic changing nature of the garden provides so many opportunities to make exciting discoveries to stimulate children’s mind, body and spirit.

Nature is an integral part of a Montessori education, and connecting with nature, for some children, provides many developmental opportunities that staying indoors simply cannot.

As Anita Croft from Growing Kiwi Gardeners notes, “Research has shown that spending time in nature is calming and can help a child to regulate their emotions. Gardening can be a useful way to provide time in nature help children regulate their emotions.” For more on the benefits of gardening with children see Growing Kiwi Gardeners.

Dr. Montessori believed that each child has an innate love for nature, and flower picking is a typical activity available for children in a Montessori environment. The beautiful flowers the  children find are brought inside and arranged in small vases and placed carefully at a table. This activity involves skills such as pouring water into a vase with a funnel and using scissors for cutting the stems of the flowers. Indirect benefits of the activity include appreciation of beauty, refinement of the sense of smell, sight and taste, as well as gross motor development.