Attending 12 weekly sessions of Forest School sessions improves mood and cooperation in 7–8- year-old children
Forest School participation is beneficial for children’s mood and cooperation.
Studies investigating the benefits of Forest School have, for the most part, used subjective measures and small sample sizes. This study used more rigorous methods to assess the impact of Forest School on children. These more rigorous methods included testing on a large sample of children before and after the Forest School experience, the use of standardized assessments, and direct comparison of children attending Forest School with a comparable group of children not attending Forest School.
One hundred and seventy-nine primary children were assigned to either a Forest School or classroom group. Children in the Forest School group attended Forest School sessions for 12 weeks; the other children (the control group) remained in their classrooms following their regular curriculum. Tests assessing mood, self-esteem, spatial cognition, and collaborative behavior were conducted before and after the 12-week Forest School experience. Twenty-eight of the children failed to complete both the pre- and post-assessments. The final data analysis, therefore, was based on 151 children: 68 in the Forest School group; 83 in the control group. Assessment tools used for this study consisted of the Visual Analogue Mood Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Corsi blocks (for spatial working memory), and a collaborative craft activity.
Children in the Forest School group rated their mood more favorably than children in the control group. They reported being “less tired, less bored, calmer and happier than children in the classroom.” Generally, there were no differences between the two groups on the overall self-esteem score or on most of the individual items on this scale. There was some evidence, however, of improved competence-related self-esteem for the children attending Forest School. Results of the spatial memory task showed no change by Forest School participation. Results of the collaboration task showed a significantly greater change in cooperation for children who attended Forest School versus those who did not.
This research provides rigorous evidence that regular engagement with Forest School improved children’s mood and cooperation in comparison to children who did not attend Forest School.
Citation
Hepworth, A., Haddad, H., Edmonds, C. J., (2024). Attending 12 weekly sessions of Forest School sessions improves mood and cooperation in 7–8- year-old children. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning
