Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Outdoor and Nature-Based Learning
Early childhood educators can address differences in children’s abilities, social and emotional needs, cultural backgrounds, language acquisition, and access to programming by providing outdoor and nature-based learning options to children and families.
Meeting children's diverse needs is essential to developing equitable, inclusive learning opportunities where everyone experiences a sense of belonging.
A variety of resources and frameworks are available to help educators in decision-making, planning, and implementing appropriate experiences for all children including infants and toddlers.
Meeting children's diverse needs is essential to developing equitable, inclusive learning opportunities where everyone experiences a sense of belonging.
A variety of resources and frameworks are available to help educators in decision-making, planning, and implementing appropriate experiences for all children including infants and toddlers.
Universal Design for Learning FrameworkThe Universal Design for Learning is a framework educators can use to improve practices and supporting all learners recognizing the uniqueness of each individual. The framework acknowledges that no two brains are alike.
The Universal Design for Learning goals align well with outdoor and nature-based learning values. Goals of the UDL framework include supporting learning that is focused on being:
According to Pikus et al. (2025), the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines, developed by CAST, are a good starting point for evaluating and designing programs that meet the diverse needs of children and families. 
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Cognitive & Behavior Disability SupportResearch shows teachers report children with cognitive and behavioral disabilities have longer attention spans and less disruptive behavior outdoors (Szczytko et al., 2018).
The UDL framework is a helpful tool educators can use to assist them with reflecting on how to adapt content and lessons to meet the needs of children with disabilities. Example supports include:
Researchers agree that children with disabilities should be included in outdoor activities, though the approach may differ depending on the children's needs and the program's design (Craig et al., 2024; Pikus et al., 2025; Kiviranta et al., 2024). Educators can carefully plan for the needs of individual students and consider what supports might be required such as adding extra staff, for example, to help maneuver a wheelchair across bumpy terrain or assist children with behavior needs (Pikus et al., 2025). Careful planning is important for meeting other needs of students including students who are learning multiple languages. 
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Principles of Universal Design
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Multilingual Learner SupportEducators can help support language development for children learning more than one language through outdoor and nature-based learning opportunities. A study in 2017 by Cameron-Faulkner's showed that when children and caregivers engage directly in nature experiences, they use a wider variety of nature-inspired vocabulary.
Similarly, one study on Spanish-English bilingual language development in toddlers in typical learning environments linked the warmth of the caregiver and exposure to a diverse set of words with positive vocabulary development (Gamez, et al., 2023). Outdoor and nature-based experiences can be rich with new language and including opportunities to:
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See the Additional Resources for links to more information about supporting diverse learners.
Additional ResourcesMessage in a Backpack ™ Nature Play with Sensitive Children: In this article from the National Association for the Education of young Children there are tips for considering when a child is sensitive to touching natural objects
Minnesota Reads: Unite for Literacy: This collection of online books offers several titles that are nature-based and all of the books have versions that have been translated into multiple languages in both print and orally. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Framework: UDL is a framework to improve and optimize teaching focused on three main categories, engagement, representation, and actions and expression. |
References
Craig, D., Trina, N. A., Monsur, M., Haque, U. T., Farrow, G., Hasan, M. Z., Tasnim, F., & Akinbobola, M. S. (2024). Effective nature-based outdoor play and learning environments for below-3 children: A literature-based summary. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(9), 1247. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21091247.
Cameron-Faulkner, T., Macdonald, R., Serratrice, L., Melville, J., & Gattis, M. (2017). Plant yourself where language blooms: Direct experience of nature changes how parents and children talk about nature. https://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.27.2.0110.
Gámez, P. B., Palermo, F., Perry, J. S., & Galindo, M. (2023). Spanish‐English bilingual toddlers’ vocabulary skills: The role of caregiver language input and warmth. Developmental Science, 26(2), e13308–n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13308.
Kiviranta, L., Lindfors, E., Rönkkö, M., & Luukka, E. (2024). Outdoor learning in early childhood education: Exploring benefits and challenges. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2023.2285762.
The UDL guidelines. CAST. (2025). https://udlguidelines.cast.org/.
Pikus, A. E., Etchison, H. M., Gerde, H. K., & Bingham, G. E. (2025). Nature for all: Utilizing the universal design framework to incorporate nature-based learning within an early childhood inclusive classroom. Teaching Exceptional Children, 57(5), 338–347.
Szczytko, R., Carrier, S. J., & Stevenson, K. T. (2018). Impacts of Outdoor Environmental Education on Teacher Reports of Attention, Behavior, and Learning Outcomes for Students With Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Disabilities. Frontiers in Education (Lausanne), 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00046
Craig, D., Trina, N. A., Monsur, M., Haque, U. T., Farrow, G., Hasan, M. Z., Tasnim, F., & Akinbobola, M. S. (2024). Effective nature-based outdoor play and learning environments for below-3 children: A literature-based summary. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(9), 1247. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21091247.
Cameron-Faulkner, T., Macdonald, R., Serratrice, L., Melville, J., & Gattis, M. (2017). Plant yourself where language blooms: Direct experience of nature changes how parents and children talk about nature. https://doi.org/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.27.2.0110.
Gámez, P. B., Palermo, F., Perry, J. S., & Galindo, M. (2023). Spanish‐English bilingual toddlers’ vocabulary skills: The role of caregiver language input and warmth. Developmental Science, 26(2), e13308–n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13308.
Kiviranta, L., Lindfors, E., Rönkkö, M., & Luukka, E. (2024). Outdoor learning in early childhood education: Exploring benefits and challenges. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2023.2285762.
The UDL guidelines. CAST. (2025). https://udlguidelines.cast.org/.
Pikus, A. E., Etchison, H. M., Gerde, H. K., & Bingham, G. E. (2025). Nature for all: Utilizing the universal design framework to incorporate nature-based learning within an early childhood inclusive classroom. Teaching Exceptional Children, 57(5), 338–347.
Szczytko, R., Carrier, S. J., & Stevenson, K. T. (2018). Impacts of Outdoor Environmental Education on Teacher Reports of Attention, Behavior, and Learning Outcomes for Students With Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Disabilities. Frontiers in Education (Lausanne), 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00046
