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Re-wilding Learning: Why Nature-Based Schools Are Gaining Ground
- Curious Roots Collective
- Nov 6
- 4 min read
Children today spend more time in front of screens than under open skies. For many, climbing a tree, feeling the rain, or watching a bird build its nest has become a rare experience. But that doesn’t have to be the story we keep telling - because every child deserves to grow up feeling at home in nature.
Across the world, a quiet movement is taking root - one that’s taking learning outdoors, grounding it in the natural world, and reawakening curiosity, connection, and joy. Welcome to the world of nature-based learning and nature-based schools.
Opening the Door to Nature
In both the US and Europe, research shows that children’s outdoor time has dropped sharply in recent decades. Studies suggest that, on average, children now spend less than 30 minutes outdoors each day - less than half the time their parents did growing up.
This lack of time outside has even been called “nature deficit disorder”, a term that captures how disconnected many young people have become from the living world around them.
When schools bring learning outdoors - when the forest, garden, meadow, or park becomes part of the classroom - something powerful happens. Children rediscover wonder. They grow more confident. They begin to see themselves as part of something much larger.
What Do We Mean by “Nature-Based Learning”?
Nature-based learning (or NBL) means making nature an essential part of how and where children learn. It’s not just about the occasional field trip - it’s about weaving the outdoors into daily life and lessons.
Classes happen regularly outdoors - in gardens, woodlands, or schoolyards.
Learning is hands-on, sensory, and active.
Nature itself becomes the co-teacher.
Lessons build curiosity, creativity, and care for the planet.
In nature-based schools, students might count leaves to learn maths, journal under a tree to practice writing, or explore ecosystems through play. It’s learning that’s alive - full of movement, discovery, and meaning.
Whether you call it forest school, outdoor classroom, or garden-based learning, the idea is the same: let the wildness in.
A Short History of Learning in Nature
The roots of this movement go back more than a century. Early educators like Friedrich Fröbel and Maria Montessori championed the idea that play, freedom, and connection to nature were essential for children’s development.
In the 1950s, forest kindergartens in Denmark and Sweden showed what was possible when schools made the outdoors their main classroom. Since then, the model has spread across Europe and beyond, inspiring new approaches to outdoor education.
As we re-evaluate what education means in a digital and urban age, nature-based learning feels less like a trend and more like a homecoming.
Different Types of Nature-Based Schools
Forest Schools / Forest Kindergartens
Children spend regular sessions outdoors - often in woodland - exploring, creating, taking risks in managed ways, and developing independence and curiosity.
Early Years Nature Preschools
These focus on outdoor immersion for 3–6-year-olds, using natural materials, sensory play, and the changing seasons to support development.
Primary and Secondary Nature-Based Schools
Some schools integrate nature into the entire curriculum - with outdoor classrooms, gardens, and lessons held in local parks or natural spaces.
Urban and Hybrid Settings
Even in cities, schools are finding ways to connect students with nature: wild corners of schoolyards, rooftop gardens, local park visits, and creative outdoor projects.
Why It Matters
The research is clear - spending time in nature has huge benefits for children.
Sharper minds: Outdoor learning improves focus, attention, and problem-solving.
Stronger bodies: It increases movement, coordination, and overall health.
Happier hearts: Nature reduces stress and anxiety, nurturing emotional wellbeing.
Richer relationships: Children play more cooperatively outdoors.
Environmental connection: Kids who learn in nature grow into adults who care for it.
Voices of Change: Curious Roots Collective & 100 Stories
Two inspiring initiatives are helping reimagine how we connect learning and nature.
The Curious Roots Collective works to deepen connection, community, and curiosity in education - reminding us that learning outdoors is also about belonging and equity.
100 Stories celebrates many different voices and perspectives in education and nature. It reminds us that there’s no single “right way” to learn outdoors - only hundreds of unique, beautiful stories taking shape in classrooms and communities around the world.
Together, they show that nature-based learning is about far more than being outside - it’s about growing whole people, in harmony with place and planet.
Challenges and Opportunities
Of course, nature-based education isn’t without its hurdles.
Access: Not every school has easy access to natural spaces - but creativity helps.
Training: Teachers need support to adapt to outdoor environments.
Weather: Rain, mud, and cold are part of the experience - but preparation makes it joyful, not daunting.
Curriculum fit: Schools need to align outdoor learning with academic standards.
Equity: Every child deserves nature - not just those who can afford it.
Despite these challenges, schools around the world are finding beautiful, practical ways to make nature part of every child’s day.
How Schools and Parents Can Begin
Start small: one weekly outdoor session or a simple school garden.
Use nature as your classroom — measure shadows for maths, study insects for science, write poetry under trees.
Partner with local parks and community gardens.
Support and celebrate teachers who embrace outdoor learning.
Share stories, photos, and reflections to build excitement and connection.
In Closing
In a world where so many children spend more time inside than out, nature-based learning is an invitation - to breathe, to wander, to wonder, to belong.
It’s not just about green spaces or fresh air; it’s about creating education that feels alive, connected, and deeply human.
When we weave together the forest and the classroom, the garden and the curriculum, the child’s curiosity and the planet’s needs, we plant something far greater than knowledge - we plant care.
Nature-based schools don’t just teach children in nature - they teach them with nature. And that may be the most important lesson of all.
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