Research

At Growing Green, our curriculum is rooted in research and grounded in practice. We draw from evidence-based approaches in early childhood education, environmental literacy, and sustainability studies to ensure our work is developmentally appropriate, inclusive, and impactful. By integrating the latest findings with hands-on learning, we support educators in nurturing young children who are curious, compassionate, and connected to the world around them.

Curiosity Isn’t Taught. It’s Grown.
Studies show that nature-based, play-centered education supports cognitive growth, emotional well-being + environmental responsibility. At Growing Green, we apply these findings to create learning environments where every question is honored, every discovery celebrated + every child is encouraged to grow with care, curiosity + confidence.

Mental Health

• ​​Adverse Childhood Experiences: The Protective and Therapeutic Potential of Nature
• Doses of Nearby Nature Simultaneously Associated with Multiple Health Benefits
• Is nature relatedness associated with better mental health? An exploratory study on Vietnamese university students
• Nature and mental health: An ecosystem service perspective
• Nature based play and expressive therapies

Risky Outdoor Play for Children

• Outdoor risky play and healthy child development in the shadow of the “risk society”.
  
• Parents’ and Early Childhood Educators’ Attitudes and Practices in Relation to Children’s Outdoor Risky Play​
  

Nature-Based Learning 

• Learning with nature and learning from others: Nature as setting and resource for early childhood education
• What is a nature-based preschool?. In Preschool Beyond Walls: Blending Early Childhood Education and Nature-Based Learning.
• Our Proud Heritage: A History of Nature-Based Education​
• Early Childhood Teachers’ Support of Children’s Play in Nature-Based Outdoor Spaces—A Systematic Review
• Nature-Based Early Childhood Education and Children’s Social,Emotional and Cognitive Development: A Mixed-Methods
  Systematic Review
• Effective Nature-Based Outdoor Play and Learning Environments for below-3 Children: A Literature-Based Summary
• Experiencing the ‘wild woods’: The impact of pedagogy on children’s experience of a natural environment
• Nature play in early childhood education: A systematic review and meta ethnography of qualitative research
• Understanding the Nature Play Milieu: Using Behavior Mapping to Investigate Children's Activities in Outdoor Play Spaces
• Footprints in the woods:‘tracking’ a nursery child through a Forest School session
• Preschool Engineering Play on Nature Playscapes

Outdoor Play + Learning Environments

• Babies and toddlers outdoors: a narrative review of the literature on provision for under twos in ECEC settings
• Seven Cs Findings :making outdoor play spaces places
• Developing an Integrated Approach to the Evaluation of Outdoor Play Settings: Rethinking the Position of Play Value
• Indoor and Outdoor Play in Preschool Programs
• Can playscapes promote early childhood inquiry towards environmentally responsible behaviors? An exploratory study
• The dynamic relationship between outdoor environments and children’s play
• Language Learning in Outdoor Environments: Perspectives of preschool staff
  

Gardening

• Children Gardening: First Steps Towards a Sustainable Future
• Two in a Pod: Promoting Sustainability and Healthy Eating In Children Through Smart Gardening
• School Gardening and Health and Well-Being of School-Aged Children: A Realist Synthesis

Sustainability + Environmental Education

• Sustainability and resilience: What do they mean, and how do they matter for policy?
• Assessing preschools using the Eco-Schools program in terms of educating for sustainable development in early childhood education
• Making “Eco-Waves”: Early Childhood Care and Education Sustainability Practices in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Sustainability education in early childhood: An updated review of research in the field
• Cloud Institute EfS Standards Performance Indicators 2012 PreK-2
• Guidelines for Excellence Early Childhood Environmental Education Programs
• Education for a Sustainable Future: Benchmarks for Individual and Social Learning 
• Young children contribute to nature stewardship
• Early childhood education for sustainability: Outcomes for social and emotional learning
• Contributions to Sustainability through Young Children’s Nature Play: A Systematic Review
• Education for social sustainability in early years: towards an inclusive perspective – a literature review
• Enhancing the potential of children’s agency to achieve global sustainability​
• Implementing education for sustainability in preschool: Teaching strategies and learning environments

Social Justice + Inclusion

• A Systematic Review of Teacher–Child Interactions With Multilingual Young Children
• The Other Side: Preschool Children’s Experience of a Read-Aloud Focused on Social Justice
• Inclusive mindedness: evolving knowledge and beliefs of preservice educators in California
• Equity and justice: Imperatives for early childhood teaching and teacher education​
• Teaching Environmental Justice in Early Childhood

​Although focused on elementary grades, the article below provides frameworks and pedagogy highly relevant to ECE settings—integrating environmental justice, indigenous perspectives, and critical pedagogy through nature-based learning. 

• For the Love of Nature: Bringing Environmental Justice to Urban Elementary Students

See it in Action

CURIOUS HOW RESEARCH-BASED PRACTICES COME TO LIFE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTINGS?

​Explore how we connect nature, equity, and sustaibality in ways that are meaningful for young children and their communities. 

Learn more about our RESEARCH-INFORMED APPROACH