Why is being in nature important anyway?
For adults, even just looking at the natural world for 40 seconds is enough to boost attention and cognitive functioning (Lee, K. E. et al. 2015). It is safe to say the same is true for children. When it comes to reducing climate anxiety, studies show that a child’s perceived value of the environment, ie. the value that those around them (parents, whanau, teachers) put on the environment, heavily impacts how they relate to the environment when they grow up. This, in turn, positively affects the amount of ‘environmentally friendly behaviours’ they will adopt (Cheng, J. C., & Monroe, M. C., 2010). Simply valuing nature ensures that children will grow up to protect it.
How do children learn to value nature?
Children’s ‘perceived value’ comes from the people around them. It is important to remember that there is no set way to connect with the outdoors but some simple things include listening to questions and learning together if you don’t know the answers; ensuring that you lead by example and be kaitiaki; acknowledge any climate anxiety and listen to their concerns. 70% of children surveyed in an Australian study said they didn’t feel like their climate anxiety was acknowledged and taken seriously (Chiw & Ling, 2019).
How do we connect children with nature?
As any parent or teacher will know, it is difficult to convince a child that a walk outside is more fun than Minecraft. In fact, I have seen videos online of children watching beautiful sunsets saying things like ‘it's ok. I’ve seen better in Minecraft’. How do we compete?!
One way may be to gamify the outdoors and treat activities as more than just a nice thing to do, but a competitive adventure! Another is to ensure we are having open and positive conversations around why we choose the environmental behaviours that we do. This is where toys can come in.
What do toys have to do with climate change?
Not only are toys an important way to purchase in line with our values (i.e. buying toys that last or other eco-friendly options), they are also the first way that children engage in consumption. We use pocket money to teach children about money and the shopping behaviours they learn from this will continue through their lives. If we teach them to save and buy a toy that is better quality and will last longer, we are embedding more environmentally friendly shopping practices.
Unfortunately, the toy industry is the most plastic intensive in the world and is based on high turnover and high consumption of low-quality goods. Essentially the current toy industry is set up to create disposable products and we are teaching this linear model to our children.
In school children are taught about the impacts of climate change but most kids’ products, including toys, don’t align with these teachings. The behaviours that kids learn are necessary to reduce the impacts of climate change on the environment aren’t reflected in the toys that are available to them. Toys can be used to empower children to be climate confident rather than anxious. Buying toys that align with our eco-friendly values shows that we value the environment, are leading by example and are teaching our children to do the same.
What is World Sustainable Toy Day?
We have a sustainable toy company, Sustained Fun, that creates products that allow families to purchase in line with their environmental values. While working in this space, we are aware of the massive impact the toy industry has on the environment but also the amazing work that a small group of people are doing to help catalyse change and create genuinely sustainable toys. So, we decided to set up World Sustainable Toy Day to highlight the issues with the industry, connect people, companies and organisations with resources and showcase the people providing eco-friendly toys and games.
World Sustainable Toy Day lands on the 3rd Friday of November, strategically one week before Black Friday, with the aim to celebrate sustainable toys and challenge the industry to do better. This year’s theme is “Connecting with Nature” and we are exploring the topics mentioned in this article; finding ways to gamify the outdoors, providing free resources for people around Aotearoa and the world, and to encourage kids and families to start looking closely at, and valuing, the natural world.
What can we do as parents and teachers to connect children with nature and increase eco-friendly behaviours?
The takeaway from all this is that nature IS valuable, not only for ongoing survival on this planet, but also our own cognitive functions! So, showing that we value nature is what we need to do for ourselves and the tamariki in our lives. We can do this by:
• Leading by example and making sustainable choices in our purchases and behaviours.
• Providing opportunities for getting outside and into nature - this might be through sports, nature walks or even just lessons on the grass outside the classroom when the weather is suitable.
• Asking questions with children about the nature around us - learning together is a valuable way to show we are interested and want to connect with the natural world.
• Listening! Listen to concerns about the environment and take them seriously. It is easy to avoid discussing climate change because it feels like a huge, unwieldy problem, but dismissing young people’s concerns may exacerbate anxiety.
So next time you are out for a walk with your whanau, hunt for some fungus, moss or lichen - look closely at the leaves around you and value what we are lucky enough to have!
References
Cheng, J. C., & Monroe, M. C. (2010). Connection to nature. Environment and Behavior, 44(1), 31–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916510385082
Chiw, A., & Ling, H. S. (2019). Young people of Australia and climate change: Perceptions and concerns. Western Australia: Millennium Kids Inc
Lee, K. E., Williams, K. J., Sargent, L. D., Williams, N. S., & Johnson, K. A. (2015). 40-second green roof views sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention restoration. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 182–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.04.003