Arts in Nature with Children and Young People

Zoe Moula, PhD, is a Lecturer in Mental Health at King’s College London and the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Art Therapy.Nicola Walshe, PhD, is Pro-Director for Education at the UCL Institute of Education and Executive Director of the UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education.

• 1. Introduction 2. Immersion and Transcendence through Music Making in the More-than-human World 3. The Breeze Forest School Project: Child-centred Support for Development and Wellbeing 4. Performing with/in Place: Exploring Sense of Place through Story Making and Sharing 5. Exploring Restorative Connections with Nature through Communicative Musicality 6. Pocket Adventures: Nurturing Young Children’s Wellbeing and Development through Art-in-nature Early Childhood Education 7. The Village project: A Community of Relational Creativity 8. An Outdoor Therapy Service Offering Art Therapy for Young People and Adults 9. Learning to Live Well Together: Art and Ecological Research with Young Children 10. Forest of Imagination: Reimagining Familiar Spaces through Creativity and Nature Awareness 11. Open Spaces, Open Senses: On Sensuous Presence in Eco-somatic Practice of Felt Thinking and Therapeutic Walking with Young People 12. Open Studio in the Greenhouse: Nature-connected Expressive and Therapeutic Art Experiences with Vulnerable Adolescents 13. What’s beneath our Feet? Cultivating Cultural Awareness through Arts-in-nature with Australian Children and Young People 14. Conclusion

‘Arts in Nature with Children and Young People is essential reading for all who wish to understand the fundamental connection between human flourishing and the natural environment. Like Zoe and Nicola, I too have been inspired and moved by the work of Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination. Through the voices of children, we know that being creative in nature is transformative for their learning and growth. This is a critical field of study in relation to the climate emergency and the ever growing crisis in young people’s mental health.’Alex Coulter, Director of the National Centre for Creative Health‘From the creative programming of practitioners to the empirical findings of researchers, the editors of Arts in Nature with Children and Young People have curated a dynamic collection of papers, highlighting the educational, developmental, and therapeutic value of engaging with nature and art. Moula and Walshe have produced a valuable resource for practitioners working with children and youth.’Nevin J. Harper, PhD, RCC. Professor, counsellor, and author of Nature-based Therapy and editor of Outdoor Therapies‘Bravo to authors, Moula and Walshe who have assembled an outstanding group of authors to demonstrate the healing power of the arts in nature in a variety of natural settings. Grounded in empirical research, this trailblazing book brilliantly synthesizes the interconnectedness between the arts and nature to support the overall well-being of children and adolescents. Beneficially, this book will ultimately inspire readers to personally engage the arts in natural landscapes to deepen their own ecological sense of self.’Janet A. Courtney, PhD. Founder FirstPlay Therapy, author and co-editor of Nature-based Play and Expressive Therapies: Interventions for Children, Teens, and Families‘This book brings together an impressive breadth of research and practice showing how creative arts experiences carried out in natural settings can contribute to wellbeing. The authors explore the contribution of a variety of “arts-in-nature” practices toward promoting individual and community wellbeing, social justice, cultural awareness, and personal and environmental sustainability. This is a major contribution of utmost importance to personal and planetary healing for the future of our young people and our Earth.’Professor Sally Atkins, Ed.D., REAT, REACE, Founding Director of Expressive Arts, Appalachian State University and author of Nature-Based Expressive Arts Therapy