A Quantitative Comparison of Patterns of Play and Conflict in Nature Preschool and Traditional Preschool Children in Norway

Early childhood experiences have lifelong physical, social, emotional, and cognitive impacts. High quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can put children on the path to personal development, lifelong learning, and future employability. Among the fastest growing ECEC options are nature-based preschools, where children spend most or all of each day outdoors in natural environments, but comparative studies of children’s behavior in nature-based versus traditional preschools are needed.

We conducted an observational study comparing conflict, activity patterns, and play behavior among children at a nature preschool and a traditional preschool, both in Norway, where access to high quality ECEC is a universal right. We found that preschool children’s behavior varied with time spent outdoors in natural environments: (1) play was more physically active, less gendered, and less often incorporated human-made items at the nature preschool, (2) conflict was almost twice as common at the traditional preschool, and (3) daily group activities at the traditional preschool like sitting down to a cooked meal and gathering up and putting away toys were absent from the nature preschool.

While both the traditional and nature preschools offered children equal amounts of play time and a variety of physically and socially stimulating play activities, our results suggest that access to natural environments impacts preschool children’s behavior and interactions in meaningful ways.