Differential effects of an urban outdoor environment on 4–5 year old children’s attention in school
Holding classes outdoors, even in urban settings, may support the attentional capacity of socio-economically disadvantaged children
A substantial body of evidence suggests that exposure to nature is linked to improved attention among children. However, research has largely focused on comparing natural and urban settings, and many urban schools lack access to natural environments. “It remains unclear whether spending time outdoors in urban school environments can still benefit attentional performance and therefore schools without access to natural sites may believe that it is not worth taking children outdoors for learning activities.” This study investigated children’s attention and engagement during everyday school activities in an outdoor urban environment as compared to their regular classroom. The study also examined whether all children demonstrated attentional gains from being outside or if some children benefited more than others.
The study was conducted with 76 four- and five-year-old students in London, UK. Outdoor classrooms were created at four primary schools using furniture and resources from the indoor classroom. The outdoor classrooms were located in urban settings with low levels of surrounding nature and were close to school buildings and roads. Data was collected in each class for 35–40 minutes, four days per week, for a duration of four weeks using wearable head mounted cameras that recorded children’s point of view. Half of the data was collected in the outdoor classroom and half in the regular indoor classroom. Activities, resources, behavioral expectations and teaching staff were the same in both settings. Data collection occurred during ‘carpet time,’ during which children were seated and listened to a story or a math lesson, and ‘choosing time,’ in which children chose from activities provided by teachers, such as number games, construction toys, crafts and writing tasks. For each participant, four randomly selected videos from choosing time in each condition (indoor and outdoor) were reviewed to determine which activities (literacy, math, creative and imaginative activities) they engaged in and for how long. Percentage time on task and peak focus time were calculated as a measure of children’s ability to sustain and control their attention. Attention during carpet time was assessed by the number of teacher redirects (times the teacher intervened to regain children’s attention), looking time (how much time each child spent looking at the teacher), and performance on a literacy task that evaluated children’s comprehension of a story. Information about each student’s preference for being inside or outdoors, special educational needs, socio-economic status, first language, and academic attainment was provided by the schools. Statistical analysis examined: 1) differences between attention in the indoor and outdoor conditions, 2) if children who struggled to maintain attention in indoors showed greater improvements than their peers when outdoors, and 3) if specific groups of children were more likely to show improved attention when outdoors.
Analysis revealed that at the whole group level children’s duration of engagement in imaginative activities was significantly longer when outdoors. Children with low baseline indoor attention levels and those who preferred the outdoors also demonstrated a significant increase in the duration of imaginative activities when outdoors. Significant differences were not detected in duration of engagement in literacy, math or creative activities between indoor and outdoor conditions. Percentage of time on task and peak focus time for all types of activities did not significantly differ between indoor and outdoor conditions, indicating that, overall, children did not display more on-task behavior or improved ability to sustain their attention when outdoors compared with indoors. However, children who had an outdoor preference spent a higher percentage of time on-task and had a longer duration of peak focus when outdoors. On the other hand, children who had an indoor preference spent a higher percentage of time on-task and had a longer duration of peak focus when indoors. No overall significant differences were detected between indoor or outdoor measures of attention during carpet time (teacher redirects, looking time and literacy task score). However, children who were eligible for free school meals scored higher on the literacy task when outdoors, while children who were not eligible for free meals scored higher on the literacy task when indoors.
Although young children’s overall attention levels did not differ between outdoor urban settings and classroom settings at the group level, the study did reveal that some groups of children experienced improvements in their attentional capacity. Children with the lowest baseline attention scores, who are likely to have difficulty maintaining attention, as well as children who prefer being outdoors, demonstrated enhanced attention in the outdoor classroom. Further, children who were eligible for free school meals were more likely to show improved attention outdoors. Importantly, results show that “children did not perform worse in the literacy task outdoors compared to inside, and that some children (particularly those who were more socio-economically disadvantaged) performed significantly better on comprehension and recall tasks outside.” Findings suggest that holding classes outdoors, even in urban schools that lack access to natural settings, can support children in improving their attentional capacity.
Citation
Atkinson, M., Goldenberg, G., Dubiel, J., Wass, S., (2025). Differential effects of an urban outdoor environment on 4–5 year old children’s attention in school. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 104
