One of the most enriching environments for a child’s development of cognitive functioning is a natural, green environment, so much so that by reducing nature playtime, such cognitive development may be inhibited. This comes as an observation by Louv himself who noted that the lack of exposure to the natural environment could contribute to the rise in the incidence of cognitive disabilities among children in recent years. Listed below are some possible implications that a deficit in nature could have on a child’s cognitive functioning.
Executive functioning
A child who constantly spends their time indoors will only experience a stagnant environment filled with structured and scheduled activities, reducing the opportunities to practice and learn skills that require executive functioning.
These skills, which include planning, prioritizing, troubleshooting, negotiating, and multitasking, may take much longer for a child to develop if they are not exposed to the demands of an unstructured play in nature that requires them to solve problems, complete tasks, and amuse themselves.
Academic performance
The academic performances for reading, mathematics, science, and social studies among children in classes that take place in traditional school settings are generally lower than children in a class that incorporates nature as a part of the learning environment.
They may also have less engagement and enthusiasm for learning because spending too much time in a stressful environment does not allow them to restore their minds in a more relaxing environment, resulting in cognitive fatigue. You can read more about attention restoration in this section.
Attention span
The diminishing contact with the natural world may result in attention problems and concentration difficulties among children. This is because staying indoors does not provide children with an outlet to run around and expel their energy, making it harder for them to concentrate on just one task for long periods of time.
Playtime indoors restricts a child’s imagination with the preset rules and roles that they are expected to follow. This limits the opportunities for children to freely exercise their language skills in coming up with new words or learn how language use differs across different characters in roleplay. Fewer opportunities to engage with other children in a natural environment, therefore, limits a child’s ability to practice their language and communication skills freely without being bound by too many rules.
