Children’s participation in Bush School: insights into parental understanding and support for nature play

The benefits of nature play for children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development are well established, yet opportunities for outdoor play are declining. Schools can help address this gap, but doing so requires parental support. While most research focuses on how parents shape children’s play, less is known about the inverse: how children’s participation in nature play may influence parental perspectives. This study explores this dynamic by analysing parent perspectives (n = 25) regarding their observations of their children’s participation in a 10-week school-based nature play program (‘bush school’) in Sydney, Australia. Pre- and post-intervention surveys captured parent reported observations of their children’s behaviour, engagement, and enthusiasm, together with parental perspectives on nature, play-based learning, and risk. Analysis, informed by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and systems thinking, suggested that children’s participation reinforced parents’ appreciation of the developmental value of nature play, particularly through communication, relational dynamics, and children acting as sources of knowledge. These findings suggest that embedding such programs may be a feasible approach to support nature play in primary school. While based on a small, context-specific sample, the results highlight trends warranting further investigation in larger, more diverse cohorts.