A Proposed Framework
Ruth Wilson · 2025
This chapter focuses on the intersection between child development, nature connectedness, and spirituality. Included is a proposed framework for promoting the spiritual dimensions of young children’s connectedness to nature, along with some discussion about the uniqueness of the early childhood years in relation to how children learn and develop. Also included are some ideas relating to the role of spirituality in the development of one’s ecological identity. A take-away message relates to the understanding that increased time in nature alone may not be sufficient for promoting the spiritual dimensions of children’s connectedness to nature. Contact with nature may need to be paired with active engagement, reflection, mindfulness, attention to beauty, and compassion for the other-than-human elements of the natural world.