Connecting Youth to Nature: Benefits for Health and Wellness
Connecting Youth to Nature: Benefits for Health and Wellness was developed to provide educators with the research about how connecting youth with the outdoors will benefit their overall well-being. By encouraging both structured and unstructured time with nature, youth—and adults—can benefit.
The body of research referenced in this handout, represents evidence that spending time outdoors has documented improvements is organized into three content areas: children’s development, test scores, and emotional and mental health. PLT connections are also made to help you use PLT activities to achieve health and wellness benefits with the youth.