Last month, I presented an online webinar titled, " Natural Spaces: A Place for Positive Youth Development ." In it, I talked about four research-based design principles that I believe can improve the ways that our programs connect youth with nature: 1. Situate programs in youths' favorite outdoor spaces 2. Integrate more free play 3. Plan developmentally appropriate environmental learning activities, and 4. Use nature design principles In this session and others I've presented, the concept of 'free play' in structured programs seems hard for participants to grasp. Free play is not free time. And it is far more than something that only happens in nature-related programming. Free play is characterized by the following qualities: open-ended, few explicit rules or supervision, and free choice. Questions like these bubble up: "What do you mean?", "What does that look like?" Free play is important, but we seem to lack the concrete...
Our youth development educators bridge research and practice. In this blog, they offer their views on what's happening in the field of youth development, with an eye to evidence-based research written by themselves and others in our field. We welcome your comments.