🌿 It Makes Sense: How Nature, Nurture and Play Support Sensory Integration

Over the past 15 years of Nature Nurture practice, we have welcomed many children into our sessions who arrive overwhelmed, overstimulated, or dysregulated — both physically and emotionally. Others come to us flat and disconnected, lacking energy, motivation, or a sense of engagement. Some are constantly on the move — spinning, crashing, touching — seeking the sensory input their bodies need to feel organised […]

Language and Communication: How Nature Nurture Supports Children’s Development

Language and communication can be challenging for many children who are referred to Nature Nurture interventions or who participate in groups where the Nature Nurture Approach is embedded. How does Nature Nurture make a difference to children’s language and communication development.

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. 

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 […]

Understanding and Supporting Behaviour: Listening Beneath the Surface

I’m currently preparing for the final session of our Understanding and Supporting Behaviour module with the latest cohort of Aberdeenshire Council’s Nature Nurture Practitioners. As we reach the end of this module, I’m struck by the depth and quality of the conversations we’ve shared over recent weeks.