Does Time Outdoors Improve Children’s Mental Health?
Contact with nature is likely good for children's well-being, but we need to know more.
Posted May 7, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk
With summer weather upon us, can contact with nature actually improve our children’s mental and physical health? The answer, I’m surprised to say, is not as straightforward as I thought.
The Biophilia Hypothesis
There is no doubt that we are seeing spikes in the rates of mental disorders and physical health declines among children and adolescents around the world. At the same time, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that time spent outdoors in human-engineered spaces like parks or natural spaces like untouched forests can benefit children. Do a quick survey of the literature, and one finds studies that remind us that contact with nature meets a basic human evolutionary need, something referred to as the “ biophilia hypothesis .”
At a less metaphysical level, time outdoors seems to affect cognition , reduce stress , increase physical activity, and make children more social. Classrooms that have been moved outdoors at least one day a week are likely to improve children’s academic performance and have a positive influence on children’s mental disorder. According to one research team led by Marianna Brussoni at the University of British Columbia, teachers love the time outside just as much as the kids.
But what really is the extent of the impact of nature on children’s health? And what kind of nature do children need to experience to get a mental health inoculation?
Recent Meta-Review of the Research
To answer these questions, I turned to a recently published meta-synthesis of the science. Looking at published research from 2010 to 2022, Tessa Lomax and her colleagues at Oxford University found that contact with nature can be as subtle as seeing trees while driving to school to full-on immersion in unstructured outdoor play.
In general, there is a net positive effect on children’s well-being when they have time in nature, but those results are most likely for non-clinical populations. In other words, the research that shows the most promising results has been with children who are the least disordered. When it comes to a child with a diagnosed disorder like attention -deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) or depression , contact with natural environments shows promise, but much more rigorous, unbiased research is still needed.
This is probably a case of "It can’t hurt, so do it anyway." Even if time outdoors won’t necessarily be the antidote to everything that is troubling children and adolescents, there is no denying that being outside removes young people from excessive exposure to screens and gives them time to play with other children and problem-solve on their own. The science may need time to catch up and figure out how to measure impact, but for now, it makes sense to bet on the benefits of exposure to nature. There are few, if any, downsides to pushing children out the front door or organizing a day hike for the family. If the science is right, for most kids, there are likely benefits to time outside.
Lomax, T., Butler, J., Cipriani, A. & Singh, I. Effect of nature on the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents: meta-review. The British Journal of Psychiatry 225, 401–409 (2024).
Zeni, M., Schnellert, L., & Brussoni, M. (2025). Pathways for outdoor play and learning: pedagogical decisions and curricular intent in elementary school outdoor classrooms. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning , 1–21. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.dal.ca/10.1080/14729679.2025.2517042
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Michael Ungar, Ph.D., is a family therapist, a researcher at Dalhousie University, and the author of The Limits of Resilience: Knowing When to Persevere, When to Change, and When to Quit.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.