Why Resilience Matters – Right Now!

For nearly 20 years, I’ve been reflecting on resilience—why some children seem to lack it while others possess it in abundance, even in the face of immense adversity. I've also wondered how we, through Nature Nurture, can help children develop resilience. Recently, these reflections came into sharp focus as I prepared and delivered workshops for the Little Bugs Practitioners’ Fest in Fife. At the event, I launched my e-book, Nature Nurture: Watching Resilience Grow, and shared with practitioners how the outdoor activities they facilitate are crucial for building resilience.

This topic feels especially pressing right now. As I work in schools, I’m seeing a concerning lack of resilience and increased vulnerability, particularly in younger children. It raises the question: Is this still an aftershock of the pandemic, or is something deeper at play? For years, experts like Tim Gill (no-fear-19-12-07.pdf (rethinkingchildhood.com))  have warned us that overprotecting children—by restricting their play and freedom—can stifle their ability to keep themselves safe or leave them with crippling anxieties. In 2015, Robin Wilson described an “epidemic of anguish” (An Epidemic of Anguish (chronicle.com)) among college students in the U.S., and it seems that this crisis of emotional well-being, exacerbated by the pandemic, has trickled down to our youngest children.

What Is Resilience?

About 20 years ago, I set out to define “resilience.” Over the years, many phrases have emerged that attempt to capture its essence:

• “Bounce-back” highlights the ability to recover from adversity.
• “Grit” emphasizes determination in the face of setbacks.
• Other definitions focus on flexibility, adaptability, and thriving through challenges.

At Nature Nurture, we recognise that while we can’t change the traumatic experiences children have already faced, we can help them develop the inner fortitude to adapt and thrive despite their circumstances. Hope, belief in self and the future, connection and purpose are the prerequisites for having the courage and resilience to face challenge. This became our working definition of the Nature Nurture Approach.

The Role of Outdoor Play in Building Resilience

Recently, I came across an insightful blog by Peter Gray, who emphasised the importance of play in developing courage and resilience. He explains that children naturally overcome their fears through play, learning to recognise their capabilities and grow stronger with each challenge they face. One of the most damaging effects of modern risk aversion is the “fear of fear”—where children are so protected from discomfort that they never get the chance to discover their own strength or the nature of fear itself (# 47. How Children Naturally Learn Courage and How We Can Help Them (substack.com))

In the Nature Nurture approach, building resilience is at the heart of what we do. We view it holistically, across seven domains: social, emotional, physical, cognitive, creative, values, and self-esteem. Through close observation, we identify each child’s strengths, their unique challenges, and their emerging resilience. This informs the experiences we facilitate, where outdoor spaces and nature become the playground and our role is to nurture and support each child as they learn, grow, and discover their courage. These experiences allow children to thrive in the present and have a life-long impact on their ability to pick themselves up after set-backs as well as having the courage to have a go even when it’s scary.

Resilience in Action: Robert’s Story

I recently worked with a child, who I’ll call Robert, whose life had been marked by physical and relational traumas from before he was born and through the first months of his life. Although he became part of a loving family, he struggled with trust, self-belief, and emotional regulation. He had such poor self-belief that he avoided challenge for fear of making humiliating mistakes.  His default reaction to stress was to fight—through angry outbursts or physical aggression. Yet, at his core, Robert was, and is, a compassionate boy who desperately wanted to do the right thing, but his fear of failure and overwhelming experiences of threat took hold of him.

Initially, Robert was afraid of the woods and nervous of everything that the other children played or worked with. Over time, through our connection and the growing familiarity of the setting, he began to overcome these fears. He tackled his fear of heights and started to climb trees. He learned to respect and use tools and began to use his artistic talents in creating beautiful objects from natural materials. Gradually he grew confident in his abilities. As his self-belief grew, he began helping others, supporting their journey toward resilience. Robert is learning to manage his rages, his fears and his self-doubts to the extent that he is now fully participating in school and facing his transition to secondary school with hope and a degree of confidence. 

Nature + Nurture + Play helped Robert find his inner strength, courage and build the resilience.

The Crisis in Resilience

Our children are struggling to be resilient enough to meet the expectations society demands of them. To help them we need to give them permission to play freely, to challenge themselves and have fun outside in natural spaces. Nurturing parents and professionals will support children’s resilience through their trust, unconditional belief in their strengths and potentials, and through opening rather than shutting doors to the outside. By opening the door to outdoor play in nature, we are giving children the space they need to develop the inner resources they will carry with them for life.

Learn more about how Nature Nurture can support children in building resilience at Salugen Training and Consultancy .