How Nature Journals Increase Kids’ Well-Being

Last week, I saw a young child watching a bumble bee move from flower to flower on a large bush. “Shhh,” she told her brother, who was noisily jumping up and down next to her. “The bee’s working.” She continued to gaze at the busy insect for several minutes, caught up in its efforts to collect pollen for its hive.

Paying attention to the natural world is good for children, studies say. It encourages wonder, stokes curiosity, and reduces anxiety. It can even provide a sense of belonging in a larger ecosystem, which contributes to a positive sense of meaning and purpose. Yet children often spend little time really noticing natural phenomena. Busy lifestyles and lack of green spaces mean children may need support to take advantage of these natural benefits.

Creating opportunities for natural encounters can be a family stress-buster. Walk or bike a trail, stopping a few times to notice the plants, insects, and rocks around you. If you live in an urban area without a nearby park, work together to spot potted plants on stoops and balconies, ants on a sidewalk, and other signs of nature. Pause and really look at whatever you see.

Providing kids with a notebook for recording their observations helps them notice more. Encourage them to sketch leaves, animals, and other things with as much detail as they are able to produce. This activity invites them to really look at what they see and has the added benefit of slowing down their heartbeat and breathing. It can be calming and often feels more purposeful because children have time to really notice the intricacies of a plant or behaviors of an animal.

Encouraging questions about the natural world whets children’s curiosity. Begin by asking children to think of as many descriptors for an object as possible. For example, a child might spot a leaf that is light green and has knobby ‘fingers’. Invite them to notice and record other aspects of the leaf, such as the number of ‘fingers’, the vein structure, its length (approximate or by measuring), whether there are any small holes in it, how its green color compares to other leaves they’ve seen, etc. Wonder together about the meaning of these characteristics, e.g., why are the fingers rounded instead of pointy, what caused the holes?

Exploring the natural world also supports the development of imagination and creativity. Noticing the variety of bird colors, leaf shapes, and rock striations suggests to kids that the world is a diverse and colorful place to exist. Watching an ant struggle with an unwieldy piece of potato chip and how other ants rush to help prompts new ideas about cooperation. Observing how a moth is camouflaged against a tree trunk raises questions about the kinds of skills needed to flourish in a complex environment.

Bottom line, journaling increases children’s sense of connection with nature. As they become more familiar with natural phenomena, they see both similarities and differences with their own lives. They wonder about how everything works together and the reasons for the existence of various living things. They notice how time and circumstances change things, whether seasonally (as in leaf colors) or over centuries (as in rock striations). They develop a deeper, more meaningful, relationship with the world around them.