The Impact of Time Spent in Natural Outdoor Spaces on Children’s Language, Communication and Social Skills: A Systematic Review Protocol

Steph Scott (), Tonia Gray, Jenna Charlton and Sharon Millard
Additional contact information
Steph Scott: Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust, Coral House, Longbow Close, Shrewsbury SY1 3GZ, UK
Tonia Gray: Centre for Educational Research, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2751, Australia
Jenna Charlton: School of Education, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Sharon Millard: Michael Palin Centre for Stammering, 13-15 Pine Street, London EC1R 0JG, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: There has been increasing interest over the past decade with regard to the health and wellbeing implications of time spent outdoors in nature for children. Universal systematic reviews of evidence report benefits to physical health, social-emotional mental health and wellbeing, cognition and academic learning. Internationally, there is indicative evidence to suggest outdoor engagement with nature may also impact children’s language and communication skills, skills that are critical to development, education, social relationships and life opportunities. Yet, at present such evidence has not been synthesised. Despite evidence for the benefits of the outdoors, the amount of time children are spending outdoors is in rapid decline, and has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside this are increasing numbers of children starting primary education with significant speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) which remain persistent over time. With established wide-reaching benefits of nature to children’s physical and mental health and psychological development, there is a need to further explore the more specific impacts of the natural environment on children’s language, communication and social skills, which could provide a unique opportunity to consider nature as a universal public health intervention for SLCN. The current review will aim to synthesise existing qualitative and quantitative evidence of the impact of time spent in natural outdoor spaces on the language, communication and social skills of 2–11-year-old children. Literature will be searched across seven databases and considered for inclusion against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Potential implications of the review include informing public health practice and policy for child development and education, informing priorities for speech, language, and communication interventions, and providing directions for future international research.

Keywords: children; communication; language development; social skills; nature; outdoor play (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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