Nature-Based Learning Routines for Teachers and Students

There’s no doubt about nature’s benefits. From lowering cortisol levels to reducing anxiety and depression to boosting mood to increasing working memory and physical activity, research demonstrates time spent in green (and blue!) spaces helps humans.

It’s easy to think that nature’s benefits accrue only to those who visit remote reaches of the planet for weeks on end. This image can make nature feel inaccessible, especially for educators who, even in summer, are balancing countless demands from second jobs to caregiving to professional development. 

The good news, though, is that small doses of nearby nature—including in urban settings or even indoors—also yield benefits. A recent study of college-age students documented better mood and decreased stress with as little as 10 minutes of nature exposure per day. Another study showed that individuals who spent 120 minutes per week in nature had significantly better self-reported levels of health and well-being.

The benefits of small-dose nature connections hold for students, too. From improved academic performance to better mental health to enhanced physical fitness, positive impacts are wide-reaching and address many challenges that children and adolescents face today.

Even more striking than blanket benefits, though, is that research shows nature to be an “equigenic” intervention, meaning it narrows systemic health and educational disparities by positively impacting our most marginalized students. (See, for example, this 2024 University of Glasgow study that showed spending as little as one hour a day in natural environments slashed children’s risk of mental health issues in half—benefits that were even more pronounced for kids from low-income households). 

Several studies have also pointed to more significant academic gains among disadvantaged students when their learning is connected with nature. But how can we apply these findings to our professional lives?

An Apple a Day

In a 2019 paper, Cathy Jordan and Louise Chawla drew attention to the types of learning that connect students with nature in big and small ways, coining the umbrella term “nature-based learning.” Their definition boils down to the idea that nature-based learning means learning outdoors, or indoors with elements of nature.

That definition sounds approachable until we start thinking about colleagues whom we perceive to be doing this work: the environmental science teacher whose students are conducting a field study of a pine beetle infestation while camping in a recent beetle-kill burn area, or the exuberant outdoorsman who pulls off an eighth-grade capstone canoe-camping trip down the Colorado River. With those examples, it’s easy to feel intimidated and tell oneself, “I could never do that.” 

So, I’ve come up with “apple-a-day nature-based learning,” which is learning that includes routine, modest, bite-sized nature connections, outdoors in nearby nature or even indoors. It can be integrated into your teaching practice with any age group, in any school model, with any curriculum. It’s possible for every teacher, every student, in every school, everywhere on the planet. 

Best of all, these small, bite-sized doses yield proven benefits—for students and teachers.

What’s your first bite? 

Develop a few apple-a-day nature routines that will make you feel good and that you can parlay into your pedagogy.

Here are four ideas to get started: 

1. Nature journaling. Get paper, clipboard, and pencil, and go outside (or find a nature object and bring it indoors). Pay attention to nature. There are no rules, though there are plenty of resources. Make and document observations, sketch, write, doodle, or just sit quietly for a few minutes (warning: you might want to stay longer!). For more inspiration, check out Youki Terada’s article “Why Kids Should Nature Journal at All Grade Levels.” Teachers should, too.

2. Awe walks. Awe is the feeling we get when we connect with things that are larger than ourselves. Nature is a great source of awe. Take a walk outside—ideally in a nature-filled area—and notice the world around you.

If you have limited nature in your surroundings, focus your gaze on the smallest plant growing through the sidewalk or clouds in the sky. Aran Levasseur, a high school teacher in California, says, “The most important resource for discovering awe in any environment is an open and responsive mind.” For more inspiration, check out his article “How Awe Walks Helped My Students Slow Down.”

3. “Take five” sensory mindfulness. Walk or sit outside, preferably in a nature-rich setting (you can re-create this indoors with nature soundscapes and imagery, plants, incense, herbs, and nature objects). Notice five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, and two things you can smell, and take one deep breath.

4. Nature mandalas. Gather nature objects—leaves, sticks, stones, seeds, etc.—in a bag or basket. After you’ve collected items, arrange them in circular, symmetrical, ephemeral artwork much like a sand mandala. Take time to notice the textures, colors, and patterns of your mandala. Here’s an easy guide to get started. 

Next, take your newfound nature routines and share them with your students. If you can, try to start early in the year when you’re establishing norms and the weather is often favorable. Pick a content area, day, and time to regularly go outside with your class. Have students co-create norms for your outdoor classroom, just as you would your regular classroom.

“Wonder Wednesday walks,” for example, can cultivate awe and mindfulness. Students can “take five” or walk quietly and return ready to share a wondering about nature. A lesson on symmetry can involve students’ finding symmetry in nature and then gathering nature objects to make mandalas. When you venture outdoors, nature can be a muse, the content of your lesson, or just a wide-open container for learning. 

Finally, nature journal throughout the year, across the seasons and the curriculum. You and your students will feel better and learn better for it.