Brief reflection on children interviews and experiencing nature project progress

 

As I have been interviewing parents and children, I learned about outdoor play through their eyes. In response to my first question to children, “Do you like to play inside or outside”? Every child responded, “ I like to play outside”. They were very keen to have their voice be heard through interviews. All boys replied they love to climb trees and sand boxes. Girls liked to play by swings and in sand box mostly. The children I interviewed were from my Day care and are very comfortable with my camera and talking to me. It was easy for them to express their views on my inquiry about outdoor play and experience with nature. While going through chapter 6, about interviewing, in Researching children’s experiences I learned different techniques of interviewing children and asking them questions to which children express their true opinions. As it is mentioned on pg 93 questions and answers are forms of communication that consists of two primary features, “They both contain informational and relational intentions”. (Tammivaara &Enright, 1986,p.219, emphasis in original). I took group interviews as well as individual interviews. But the answers I received from children were very much similar and all children showed deep interest in exploring nature.

As our project of experiencing nature is in progress, and children are working on their vegetable garden and experience nature in woods. It’s interesting to learn how much children become calm and relaxed as well as more co operative with each other during out door activity. Later we use photoelicitation-interviewing technique with the photographs we take of children while exploring nature. Interviewing children was an interesting experience. Learning about their perspective of outdoor play and experiencing nature and joining them in their exploration was full of fun experience. I noticed that Children and nature are inseparable, all children love to play in mud, water, sand, and likes to explore bugs. Learning takes place outdoors, where children are free to explore and broaden their imagination, run around and interact with nature as well as reach their optimum physical and intellectual development.

 I also increased my knowledge by reading several articles on the benefits of outdoor play. As I am writing, I recall the following depiction of play from Elizabeth Goodenough’s book “Where do the Children Play”:

            

   “Play is the purest, most spiritual activity of man at this stage, and at the same time typical of human life as a whole---- of the inner hidden natural life man and all things. It gives, therefore, joy, freedom, contentment, inner and outer rest, peace with the world”.

                                                               Friedrich Froebel (1826)

                                                    

         This reminds me of a book I read few years back, Dibs in Search of Self   by Virginia M. Axline. It is about a boy who was deprived of play and outdoor experiences. Although he belonged to a very educated parents but he was not allowed to experience nature and play as an ordinary child. Just being deprived of such experiences he lost his childhood and was misunderstood as a challenged child. Ultimately he found his way to the world with the support and help of a teacher.  

            Through my ongoing research I realized that adults tend to forget the most valued features while planning for children’s play areas as well as curriculums. These may include water, sand, dirt, trees, bushes, and tall grass etc. While I was interviewing children I noticed they all love the outdoors and enjoy directly interacting with nature. Also when I got adults involved in outdoor experience along with children, they all enjoyed it very much altogether.