Outdoors and Happiness

As urban development expands and there is less natural space available, scientists are working to understand the effect green space has on our mental health and that of our children.

Research from 2019 indicates that access to the outdoors in childhood is strongly associated with happiness, mental health, and well-being in adulthood. That’s one of the many reasons Waldorf schools prioritize outdoor learning and recreation for our students. Not only are outdoor spaces great places to move, discover and develop curiosity, but they also help our students feel balanced, refreshed, and ready to learn. 

The importance of access to the outdoors in childhood is supported by Jonathan Lambert in his article “Greener Childhood Associated With Happier Adulthood” and can be seen in the research from Aarhus University in Denmark [that] “found that growing up near vegetation is associated with an up to 55 percent lower risk of mental health disorders in adulthood.” This study was based on decades of satellite imagery and demographic data that looked at the mental health of those who grew up close to greenery and those who did not. 

This study “compared the risk of developing 16 different mental health disorders in adulthood with how much green space surrounded each child's residence.” (Lambert) It also considered the education, socioeconomic status, and work history of parents to give weight to factors other than the impact of neighborhood greenery. “After accounting for those potential confounding factors, the researchers found that growing up near green space was associated with a lower risk of developing psychiatric illness in adulthood by anywhere from 15 percent to 55 percent, depending on the specific illness.” (Lambert) The study also found that alcoholism was strongly linked to growing up with less access to green spaces whereas developmental disabilities were not. 

The importance of nature in childhood is a founding philosophy of Waldorf education. All Waldorf classrooms have natural fiber materials like wooden desks, chairs, toys, silks, organic displays with seasonal produce and greenery, beeswax candles, and sandboxes. Children at Cedarwood Waldorf school not only experience nature in the classroom, but also spend hours a week outdoors. In early childhood, children between the ages of 3 and 6 spend 2 to 3 hours a day under the wooded canopy of Lair Hill Park. They spend time playing in the leaves and amongst the logs and plants using their imagination and adventurous spirit to explore the natural world. As students grow, they spend at least an hour a day outside playing in the trees and courtyard. In kindergarten, students begin to explore the world in even more complexity as they start going on field trips to farms and tending the courtyard gardens. This continues through our grades and middle school culminating in an 8th-grade trip that combines the outdoors with service, and cultural education. To view more about our 22-23 trip visit this page. 

This concentration on the outdoors leads to students at Cedarwood who feel more grounded in their world, who enjoy more fulfilling childhoods and educations, and who in the end grow to be healthy adults. To learn more about our program and the value of nature in Waldorf education please visit our website: https://www.cedarwoodschool.org/why-cedarwood 

Or the full article  “Greener Childhood Associated With Happier Adulthood” by Jonathan Lambert.

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