This post is part of our 'Quick Reads for Curious Beans' series, offering bite-sized research on child development to help busy parents turn scientific insights into clear, actionable takeaways!
The Impact of Nature Connection on Children's Social-Emotional Learning: New Insights
At Human Bean Books, we're all about connecting young minds with big ideas. Today’s research nugget explores how a child’s connection to nature impacts their social-emotional learning (SEL)—a vital skill for their overall development. With more children spending time indoors, it's important to understand how connecting with the natural world can help little beans grow in ways that matter most.
What is Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)?
If you’ve read our previous post, Empowering Young Hearts: The Science Behind Social-Emotional Learning, you know that SEL helps children develop key life skills. These include recognizing and managing their emotions, setting goals, showing empathy, and building relationships. In short, SEL helps them thrive in all aspects of life—like planting the seeds of a happy, healthy future!
The Study: Investigating the Connection Between Nature and SEL
This study, conducted in Austin, Texas, focused on 138 children aged 8 to 10. Most of these little beans came from economically disadvantaged Latino households and had limited access to nature (Lanza et al., 2022). The researchers wanted to explore how children's psychological connection to nature, rather than just exposure, might influence their SEL skills. Using two measures of nature connection—the Connection to Nature Index (CNI) and the Inclusion of Nature in Self scale (INS)—the study examined how these factors related to the five key SEL competencies.
Key Findings: Nature Connection and SEL
The results? A positive connection between children’s bond with nature and their SEL skills! Specifically in the areas of self-awareness, self-management, and relationship skills. Let's break it down:
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Overall SEL Skills: For every increase in CNI score, children’s SEL skills went up by 0.29. That’s like giving their emotional intelligence a little boost!
- Self-Awareness: Children with a stronger connection to nature felt more confident in their schoolwork and believed they could reach the goals they set for themselves.
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Self-Management: Nature-connected kids were more likely to use techniques to calm down when they felt upset—like having an emotional toolkit for tough times.
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Relationship Skills: Those with a stronger nature connection were also better at resolving conflicts with classmates. They had more tools for positive social interactions!
Interestingly, the INS scale—a simpler measure—didn’t show as strong a connection. This suggests that a deeper psychological connection to nature (as measured by the CNI) is what really helps these SEL skills blossom.
The Biophilia Hypothesis: Nature as Youth's Ally
The study’s findings support the biophilia hypothesis, which suggests that humans have an innate bond with nature. When children feel connected to the environment, it fulfills basic psychological needs, such as autonomy and relatedness—important ingredients for growing emotional intelligence and social skills.
Nature-Based SEL Interventions: A Growth Opportunity
Given these findings, researchers recommend incorporating nature-based interventions that focus on strengthening children’s psychological connection to the natural world. By blending nature with SEL programs, we can offer kids a truly nurturing environment to grow their emotional and social abilities—just like water and sunlight help a seed turn into a strong, healthy plant.
A Call to Action for Parents, Educators, and Caregivers
This study reminds us that nature is more than just a beautiful backdrop—it’s a powerful tool for helping children develop vital life skills.  As children increasingly face challenges related to mental health, fostering a connection to nature could be a powerful tool in enhancing their SEL competencies.
As educators and caregivers, let’s create opportunities for kids to spend time in nature, whether that’s through outdoor activities, green spaces, or environmental education. Helping children form a connection to nature may just be one of the most important things we can do to foster their SEL skills and support their overall development.
At Human Bean Books, we believe every little bean can grow big, strong, and full of heart—and nature may just be the secret ingredient they need. 🌱
References
Lanza, K., Alcazar, M., Chen, B., & Kohl, H. W. (2022). Connection to nature is associated with social-emotional learning of children. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 4, 100083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100083
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Nature's bean, Jade