‘We Love Nature and Nature Loves Us’: Children’s Observations on their Relationship with the More-than-Human World

Abstract

Nature play is gaining momentum in primary schools. However, few studies have actively incorporated children’s voices. Even rarer are articles authored by the children themselves, as academics predominately write these works. This article marks a departure from these trends by sharing the unfiltered reflections of Year One students from a public school in Australia on how a 10 week nature play programme, known as ‘bush school’, impacted their lives. The idea for this article originated from the students themselves. They wanted to share their views to help adults understand how children connect with nature and why nature play is important. Developed over a school term through discussions and ..