Natural Play: Making a difference to children's learning and wellbeing
This report shows evidence of the positive impacts of natural play within school grounds. Published November 2011.
Scotland has one of the greatest health challenges of the developed nations of Europe.
Increasing people’s physical activity levels is one of the main challenges, along with tackling the obesity epidemic and improving people’s mental health and wellbeing.
Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) can help make a positive impact on the health agenda. Woods help people to be active, contributing to Scottish Government programmes such as healthy living, active travel, safe routes to school, and workplace schemes run by the Centre for Healthy Working Lives.
The Health Programme
The health programme aims to improve the health and well being of people and their communities in central Scotland by enhancing opportunities people have for health and enjoyment.
Our focus is on making local woodland accessible and welcoming – helping people build healthy activity into their daily lives - and raising awareness about local opportunities offered by FCS’s work on health, Woodlands In and Around Towns, Active Woods, Forest Schools and Woods for Learning.
A key outcome will be to increase the public’s awareness of and access to woodlands in and around urban areas for recreation and health improvement.
Hugh McNish, Health Adviser at Central Scotland Conservancy, is supporting a wide range of pilot health initiatives including:
Branching out
Greenspace and conservation on referral for people using mental health services in Glasgow.
A full evaluation of Branching Out has been completed and an executive summary along with full report and resource guide are available. Read more about Branching Out
Volunteering
In Partnership with Apex Scotland a group of volunteers formed a work party and carried out woodland improvements at Devilla forest. This project helped increase participant self esteem and provide them with transferable skills to help them return to full time employment.
Additionally participants reported health and wellbeing benefits and the positive influence of the woodland setting. The video below has more about the project.
Map pack study
To investigate whether the creation of walking map packs and supporting signage has any impact on people’s walking habits in urban woodland.
This project helped to establish a local walking group and produced a map pack with a series of six walks with community engagment. The map packs are available free of charge at all public buildings in Castlemilk. Read the map pack executive summary (PDF 2.4Mb) and full research report (PDF 3.3Mb). For more information on how the project was developed, see the map pack (PDF 380k).
Forest clubs
The first forest club was run during summer 2009 in Garscadden woodlands.
The club ran for 6 week of the summer holidays and during the October week. The group took part in a range bushcraft and environmental art to samaba drumming.
Mountain biking within core PE
A partnership project giving secondary school pupils the chance to participate in mountain biking in woodland settings as part of secondary schools' physical education.
This is now operating in 2 schools in North Lanarkshire and making use of the Glen Mile mountain bike trail. For more inforamtion on how this project was developed see the mountain bike flyer (PDF 182k).
Natural play
The aim of this project was to develop a natural play area within a primary school ground allowing school pupils to reconnect with the natural environment.
It is hoped that this will also allow the pupils to create their own play, increase levels of physical activity and develop social and interpersonal skills.
Children’s drive to play is instinctive and in addition they also exhibit strong attachments towards the natural world. Over the last 30 years there has been increasing evidence that play in ‘natural environments’ has a multitude of benefits.
Baseline data was gathered prior to the play space being developed. This will be followed up in 2010 to assess the impact that the natural play space has had on the children. Read the natural play baseline study (PDF 505k) or for more information on how the project was devloped see natural play (PDF 359k) or watch the video clip below.
Woodland jogging
Using and viewing forests and woodlands improves our physical and mental health.
Perhaps you already know that time spent in the great outdoors and natural environment can improve your health. Evidence shows that spending time in woodlands is good for your physical health and mental wellbeing. For more information about the benefits see woodland jogging (PDF 894k).
More information
For more information about any of these projects. please contact Hugh McNish
Email: hugh.mcnish@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 01698 368 555 (direct)
For more information about the Branching Out pilot project, contact Kirsty Cathrine
Email: kirsty.cathrine@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 01698 368 557
More information on Woods for Health
Some of the messages promoted through Woods for Health are outlined below.
Woods are great places for:
- exercise such as walking, cycling, running and playing
- reducing stress, offering peace and tranquillity
- raising the spirits through sights, smell and experiences.
Forests and woods around Scotland are naturally good for you. They are the cities' lungs and support local wildlife that people enjoy seeing, including birds, butterflies, deer and squirrels. You can travel through them on your way to work or school or simply visit them for pleasure.
In this sound clip an office worker describes how his walk to work through woodlands helps him prepare for the day ahead and unwind afterwards:
Physical and mental health
Using and viewing woodlands improves our physical and mental health. People living in greener areas generally report less health complaints and more often relate themselves to be in good health and having better mental health.
Physical benefits:Walking in woodland for 30 minutes, five or more days a week improves the working of the heart and lungs and makes you feel fitter and more energetic. Being active in woodland also reduces stress and promotes natural recovery from mental fatigue.
“Over two thirds of adults and one third of children in Scotland do not do enough exercise or physical activity”.
- Feel more energetic and lively.
- Reduce your risk of chronic disease.
- Control your weight.
- Feel better.
Psychological benefits:
“It is estimated that over half a million people in Scotland are seen by their GP for problems related to depression and anxiety each year”. Woodlands are natural stress relievers as they offer a calming environment and spaces to reflect and escape the built environment, helping us recover from the stresses and strains of everyday life.
- Higher quality of life.
- Enhanced mood.
- Stress reduction.
- More positive self image.
Social benefits
Spending time in woodlands can help you and your family become more active, meet new people and try new activities. “Greener neighbourhoods give rise to stronger communities with better social ties”.
- Woods provide opportunities for social contact and support.
- Allowing you to meet new people and try new activities.
- Helping to reduce social isolation.
Evaluating social forestry initiatives
In 2008/09 Forestry Commission Scotland is piloting an evaluation framework for selected health-related forestry initiatives, built into Woods in and Around Towns and Forestry for People Challenge Funds and various social forestry programmes.
If you are developing a health-related initiative, we may make use of the framework a condition of our support. We will tell you if this is the case.
