Articles and Research Studies to Support Nature Journaling
We say that nature journaling is good for you and good for your students, but where’s the proof behind these claims? Below are a few articles and research studies to back them up!
Note: Items with an asterisks * require access to that database to view the full study
How Nature Journaling Helps My Students Feel at Home
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_nature_journaling_helps_my_students_feel_at_home
A place-based educator in California invites his students to spend time in, observe, and document the wild nature around them.
Research studies referenced in article:
From Screens to Sunshine: Rescuing Children’s Outdoor Playtime in the Digital Era
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09731342241229845
*Interdisciplinary nature journaling improves mood and helps build connection in middle school students
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504622.2024.2405901
“Results indicated a positive shift in moods, reduced stress, and enhanced feelings of self-valuation and connection to the natural world. The activity fits into New York State English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math, and Art standards, emphasizing the feasibility and adaptability of environmental education activities across disciplines.”
Summary here: https://research.childrenandnature.org/research/nature-journaling-supports-students-well-being-and-environmental-awareness/
Why Kids Should Nature Journal at All Grade Levels
https://www.edutopia.org/article/benefits-nature-journaling
A 2023 review makes a strong case that hands-on observation of natural phenomena has both academic and psychological benefits.
Research study referenced in article:
*Nature Journaling in the High School Classroom
https://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-abstract/85/4/187/195977/Nature-Journaling-in-the-High-School-Classroom?redirectedFrom=fulltext
“Nature journaling is an effective way for life science teachers to get adolescents outside and incorporate nature studies into their lessons. Students engaged in regular, sustained nature journaling could experience an increase in literacy and critical thinking skills, an increase in understanding and connections to their native landscapes, and a decline in anxiety and depression.”
Nature journaling provides differing benefits to adults, youth
https://www.psu.edu/news/health-and-human-development/story/nature-journaling-provides-differing-benefits-adults-youth
Researchers found the outdoor recreational activity can help adults find fellowship, youth experience wildlife up close
Research study referenced in article:
Community nature journaling: wellbeing and learning outcomes for adult and youth participants
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14729679.2024.2425933
“This research suggests that nature journaling has the potential to mitigate social isolation among older adults, while fostering a deep sense of awareness of the natural world for younger generations.”
More Research Studies
Pedagogical implementations of nature journaling in connecting with the natural world: A scoping review
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871187126001239
“Nature journaling shows strong potential as a pedagogical tool, promoting experiential and reflective learning, interdisciplinarity, scientific skills, creativity, mindfulness, and emotional engagement.”
Nature journaling: a space for student sensemaking regarding the crosscutting concepts
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43031-026-00156-0
“With this case we demonstrate the affordances of nature journaling for supporting sensemaking of concepts that cut across many of the scientific disciplines.”
Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10853352/
“Our findings suggest that the spatiotemporal pattern from visual and proprioceptive information obtained through the precisely controlled hand movements when using a pen, contribute extensively to the brain’s connectivity patterns that promote learning.”
*The Surprisingly Powerful Influence of Drawing on Memory
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0963721418755385
“…we have shown that gains are greater from drawing than other known mnemonic techniques, such as semantic elaboration, visualization, writing, and even tracing to-be-remembered information. We propose that drawing improves memory by promoting the integration of elaborative, pictorial, and motor codes, facilitating creation of a context-rich representation.”
“It was like I was not a person, it was like I was the nature”: The impact of arts-in-nature experiences on the wellbeing of children living in areas of high deprivation
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494423001202?via%3Dihub
“The qualitative and arts-based methods suggested that the arts-in-nature intervention supported children’s mental and emotional wellbeing through four key elements: a) self-confidence and self-esteem; b) development of agency; c) slowliness and calmness; and d) connectedness with nature.”
Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1087054708323000
“Twenty minutes in a park setting was sufficient to elevate attention performance relative to the same amount of time in other settings. These findings indicate that environments can enhance attention not only in the general population but also in ADHD populations. “Doses of nature” might serve as a safe, inexpensive, widely accessible new tool in the tool kit for managing ADHD symptoms.”
Impacts of Outdoor Environmental Education on Teacher Reports of Attention, Behavior, and Learning Outcomes for Students With Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Disabilities
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2018.00046/full
“Quantitative data revealed teachers perceived students had significantly improved attention spans and decreased disruptive behaviors when learning outdoors. Students in the treatment group maintained measures of nature of science, science efficacy and science grades, keeping in line with their peers in the control group.”
