Nature Nurture Audit Tool

🌿 Nature Nurture Audit Tool

Balancing Nature + Nurture + Play to Support Children’s Resilience 

In busy educational and care settings, it can be difficult to step back and see clearly what children are truly experiencing in our environments. 

We know that many children, particularly those with additional support needs, neurodivergence, or experiences of trauma, do not always thrive within conventional structures. They may appear disengaged, overwhelmed, or dysregulated. As practitioners, we respond with care, skill and commitment—but often within systems that make it challenging to reflect deeply on what is working well and where subtle changes could make a meaningful difference. 

The Nature Nurture Audit Tool has been designed to support that reflection. 

Grounded in the Nature Nurture Approach, this practical and thoughtful tool helps you explore the balance between three key elements that underpin children’s wellbeing and development: 

🌿 Nature – the environments we create and the opportunities children have to connect with the natural world
🤝 Nurture – the quality of relationships, emotional safety and attuned adult support
🎨 Play – the space for child-led exploration, creativity and intrinsic motivation 

When these elements are in balance, we begin to see something powerful emerge: resilience. Not simply the ability to cope, but a deeper sense of belonging, confidence and capacity to engage with the world. 

🌱 What the Nature Nurture Audit Tool offers 

This printable PDF audit is designed as a gentle, reflective framework, not a checklist or judgement tool. It invites you to notice what is already in place, consider where there may be gaps, and think about how your current provision is experienced by the children you support. 

The audit includes: 

• Clear, structured prompts across Nature, Nurture and Play  

• A simple self-rating system to help you visualise strengths and areas for development  

• Reflective questions to deepen your understanding of practice  

• A visual scoring wheel to highlight balance across the three elements  

• A “small next steps” section to support realistic, meaningful change  

🌿 Who is it for? 

This Nature Nurture Audit Tool is ideal for: 

• Teachers and early years practitioners  

• Additional support for learning (ASL/ASN) staff  

• Forest School and outdoor learning practitioners  

• Playworkers and third sector staff  

• Countryside Rangers and green health practitioners  

• School leaders supporting inclusive and wellbeing-focused practice  

It can be used: 

• Individually, as part of personal reflection  

• With colleagues, to support shared discussion  

• In staff training or professional learning sessions  

🌟 Why it matters 

Small shifts in practice can have a significant impact on how safe, valued and able to engage a child feels. 

This audit is not about adding more to your workload.
It is about helping you see more clearly, so you can respond with intention. 

🌿 A companion to deeper learning 

The Nature Nurture Audit Tool is also part of the wider Nature Nurture in Practice approach and training programme. It can be used as a standalone tool or as a starting point for further professional development. 

Download your copy today and begin to explore the balance of Nature, Nurture and Play in your setting