Learning in Nature: Washington Becomes First in the Country to License Outdoor Preschools

Elise Takahama · Seattle Times · October 2, 2019

Featuring Dr. Amber Fyfe-Johnson, a Nature and Health researcher

But while the state pushes forward to promote outdoor learning, some families have voiced worries about the idea.

“Number one, weather,” said Amber Fyfe-Johnson, who studies health and education at Washington State University. “But if you dress kids appropriately and keep them active, they’re fine … And the second concern I hear is about kindergarten readiness or academic metrics — are there schools preparing kids for kindergarten?”

This is why Fyfe-Johnson recently launched a project exploring the effect nature-based early learning has on children’s mental and physical health.

Over the next five years, she plans on partnering with Tiny Trees to track children’s academic growth, physical activity, body mass index, sleep and digestive health, she said.

Previous studies, she said, have suggested that kids are twice as physically active outside as they are inside. Her goal is to offer more evidence that outdoor time is crucial for children’s development.