Get Fresh: Nature Will Nurture

Some rooms in a school feel calm, others chaotic. Some rooms inspire, others feel sad or boring. Bringing nature into our offices and classrooms can change how students perceive the room and may help with stress reduction, positive feelings, connections and overall well-being.

As the school year begins, consider how a fresh start with nature can support your work with students.
Humans have an innate draw toward nature; however, some would argue that we are adapting away from nature in our increasingly urban, technology-heavy world. Research has found positive correlations between nature and mental health, stress reduction, attention, illness recovery, increased altruistic behaviors, decreased violence and crime, and restorativeness. There are direct and indirect ways to engage with nature. Current research shows:

• Playgrounds that had integrated elements of nature showed students’ stress levels were reduced and psychological well-being was enhanced.
• Views from the classroom or office to nature can increase students’ recovery from stressful events; other studies have found similar findings when recovering from injury and illness.
• Natural views have been shown to decrease eye fatigue.
• The Heschong Mahone Group’s 1999 research in three states (Colorado, Washington and California) found that students progressed faster in math and reading when exposed to more daylight.
• Outdoor views reduced anxiety more than a regular room or a room with greenery.
• Images of nature and water were found to be the most restorative at the university level.
• Using natural colors, such as green on classroom walls, has been shown to reduce stress, along with nature-inspired colors of yellow and blue.
• Using repetitive patterns at different scales such as those found in nature helps with stress and relaxation.

Bring Nature Into Schools

Schools are located in diverse locations with various funding levels – or shortages – so how can you incorporate nature into everyday school life? Although we may not be able to change the physical school building easily, we can change our interior and exterior spaces and how we conduct teaching and learning in those spaces. Consider the following ideas for your office, small-group spaces and classrooms.

Go outside: Whether with a small group, teaching a lesson or taking a simple, short walk with students from one door to the other, incorporate the outside whenever you can. If you can’t go outside, arrange classrooms so most students can see outside.

Embrace plants: Biophilic design, which seeks to connect building occupants more closely to nature, is so much more than plants, but a simple start is to bring plants into classrooms and offices.

Engage students: Involve students in starting a school garden or other space that can incorporate more living plants, trees or local natural beauty. If you don’t have any outdoor space, find a corner where you can create a small oasis with a few plants and a calming nature scene or picture of the natural environment. See if students are interested in starting or partnering with others to create an environmental club. Or, work with students and your local community to start a community garden.

Engage the community: Engage with your local community to get donations of time and resources to make your school grounds more inviting for learning, teaching and relaxation. Your community likely has people with knowledge about nature who want to help connect young students to the world around them.

If your school is in an urban environment surrounded by concrete, can you include more nature within your building or entrance area? Is there a courtyard area? A nearby park? A corner or entrance space that could include more nature? For schools in college towns, connect with the local college, especially urban planning or environmental science departments, on collaborative projects. Schools in rural areas can incorporate the local outdoor culture into the school with native plants, grasses or agriculture. Partner with stores that discard plants or flowers regularly to see if you can use them.

Use natural materials: When updating furniture, spaces and materials, try to buy or source natural materials. Old tree stumps can easily become benches or seating for an outdoor/indoor space. Use sand for students to draw in and stones for counting instead of plastic beads. Use patterns found in nature on boards, display cases or walls, and use water sounds or images wherever possible.

What if you work in a school surrounded by concrete or interior offices with little to no natural light? Do what you can. Write a grant for solar tubes for interior classrooms, start an outdoor club or partner with a local company to provide outdoor seating – even a bench outside is a start. If the outside is not possible in your location, collaborate with the art department to paint murals with calming nature scenes.

Get creative with how you embrace nature this year, and see how it helps your students – and you – grow and thrive.

Calan Anderson is a school counselor at Niwot High School in Niwot, Colo., and a doctoral student at the University of Colorado – Denver.