Richardson and Sheffield (2017) found the intervention of noting ‘three good things in nature’ each day for a week leads to increases in nature connection in adults. Harvey et al. (2023) looked at this intervention with children (ages 9-11). The experimental group wrote about three good things they noticed in nature each day over a period of five days. The control group wrote about any three things they noticed each day over a period of five days.
Results showed that nature connectedness was significantly higher for the nature writing group than the control group immediately after the writing task, but not at a 2-month follow up. The nature writing group showed greater increases than the control group in pro-nature conservation behaviors both immediately after and at the 2-month follow up. The researchers suggest that the intervention may need to extend over a longer period of time or be repeated periodically for a sustained increase in nature connection in children.
Harvey, C., Sheffield, D., Richardson, M., Wells, R., (2023). The impact of a ‘‘Three Good Things in Nature’’ writing task on nature connectedness, pro-nature conservation behavior, life satisfaction, and mindfulness in children. Ecopsychology, 15(1), 26-36.
Richardson, M., and Sheffield, D., (2017). Three good things in nature: noticing nearby nature brings sustained increases in connection with nature. PsyEcology, 8(1), 1-32