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  • Essay / Children in Nature - 917

    Over the past decade, learning through landscapes has demonstrated the powerful influence of the outdoor environment on children. (Lucas, 1996) notes that the success of the external environment requires the investigation and exploration of children in their environmental knowledge and also in their living environment. He found that the environment is more important for children's well-being. This conclusion is also supported by (Titman, 1996)'s examination of the hidden curriculum of their school life. She discovered how the school setting affects children's behavior and happiness and outlined steps adults can take to ensure the educational environment meets children's needs. Experiments with nature were also to be explored. Outdoor learning for children is particularly powerful; their responses to sensory and tactile stimuli are rich and stimulating. According to (Dunne, 2000), students are more likely to succeed when they are involved in activities rather than academic learning, and environmental education is an ideal means of activity-based learning. To realize this concept, special schools see the wide range of benefits their children gain from using properly landscaped grounds. This was also supported by (Marcus and Barnes, 1999) who stated that gardens with natural features have restorative properties for people, including children with physical and mental illnesses or disabilities. Previous research has shown the healing benefits of sensory gardens. All children have the right to play. Cure of children's illnesses could be achieved through play therapy (Said, 2002). This type of therapy helps children to be exposed to the external environment and thus improves their well-being...... middle of article...... Ed.), Communicate with the health care community health on the benefits of plants: Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Human Plants, Floriade, June 14, 2002 (pp. 2-10). Chicago: Chicago Botanic Garden.22. Vapaa, AG, (2002). Healing Gardens: Creating places for restoration, meditation and sanctuary. Unpublished master's thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, United States.23. World Health Organization (2011). Data and statistics from national health accounts. Accessed January 14, 2011 from http://www.who.int/nha/en/index.html24. Wong, A. (2010). Break Free: the emotional and physical well-being of children in the great outdoors. Mychild, December edition, pp. 50-53.25. Worden, CE, (2003). Environmental horticulture: design of sensory lawns and gardens. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida