“They All Cared about the Forest”: Elementary School Children's Experiences of the Loss of a Wooded Play Space at a Private School in Upstate New York

Abstract

This qualitative investigation explored how children at a private school in upstate New York articulated their sense of loss of a wooded play space that had previously been available to them during recess. Research methods included participant observation, classroom focus groups, and teacher interviews. Results of this study indicate that the woods had afforded opportunities for creative play that other parts of the school grounds did not. Children had developed a sense of attachment to the woods as a home and community, and shared the loss of plants, animals, and access to nature. From an environmental education standpoint, the woods had afforded opportunities for creative play with and in the vegetation, direct contact with nature, and the chance to bond to a natural place, through the construction of forts. Ultimately, the children’s greatest benefit may have been the sense of care that had developed in all who had played there.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 2004 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium

Citation

Blizard, Clifford; Schuster, Jr., Rudolph. 2005. “They All Cared about the Forest”: Elementary School Children's Experiences of the Loss of a Wooded Play Space at a Private School in Upstate New York. In: Bricker, Kelly, comp., ed. 2005. Proceedings of the 2004 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-326. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station: 57-63.