Nature Nurture Blog | Salugen Training And Consultancy

ADHD and Nature Nurture: Rethinking Regulation Outside

We meet many different learning needs in Nature Nurture, and in all the years I have been doing this work, I have yet to meet a child who has not benefited from time in nature — being nurtured, moving freely, and engaging in child-led play.

In this blog we are focusing on children who are often misunderstood in school and in society more widely. Children who are frequently described as disruptive, distracted, impulsive or “too much”. And yet, time and again, these same children thrive and flourish when we change the conditions around them.

This week in our Nature Nurture in Action course, we are exploring ADHD.

When Anxiety Takes Over: How Nature Nurture Helps Children Feel Safe Again

In Module 6 of our Nature Nurture in Action programme, our practitioners turn their attention to children who live with anxiety.

And not the ordinary, everyday nerves and worries most of us recognise.

But the kind of anxiety that sits heavily in a child’s body.
The kind that colours their thoughts.
The kind that follows them into school, into friendships, into sleep.

Reframing Disability: Inclusion, Equity and the Language We Choose

This week in our Nature Nurture in Action course, we begin Module 6: Additional Support Needs in Nature Nurture.

Over the next few weeks, our Nature Nurture Practitioners will explore ASN in depth — not simply as a category of provision, but as a way of thinking about children, difference, and belonging.

We begin with something deceptively simple.

Language.

Growth Mindset and the Nature Nurture Approach

Way back in 2009, I was buzzing to attend my first Scottish Learning Festival. I packed my days with as many presentations, workshops and conversations as possible. At the end of day one, though, a quiet realisation crept in: I had gravitated towards sessions that neatly aligned with my existing values and beliefs.

“This Is My Place” – Belonging, Mental Health and the Nature Nurture Approach

9–15 February is Children’s Mental Health Week, led by Place2Be.

The theme for 2026 — “This Is My Place” — shines a light on belonging, and on the responsibility of the systems around children to help them feel they belong.

That theme stopped me in my tracks.

Pushing the Cart Up the Hill: How Confidence Really Grows

Have you ever cursed yourself for making a mistake and said words like “stupid” out loud?

I’ll hold my hands up straight away and admit it – I’m rubbish at modelling self-belief sometimes.

Many of the children we’ve met over the years who have been referred to Nature Nurture have experienced repeated failure that’s left a legacy of destructive self-talk and low self-esteem.

In Nature Nurture we’re in the business of helping children build resilience. But that raises an uncomfortable question: why does it matter how I talk to myself – both internally and out loud?

Emotional Literacy, Neurodiversity and the Power of Going Outside

Today I’m preparing the Nature Nurture in Action session on Emotional Literacy, which I’ll be delivering to our Aberdeenshire Council Nature Nurture Practitioners as part of their ongoing professional learning. This is the fifth module in the programme, and in this first session we explore what emotional literacy really means — and how it can be meaningfully supported through outdoor play and nature-based practice.

Becoming Mindful of Stress – FREE activity sheets for children

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! Let’s hope this year is less stressful. Stress is something I have been

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