Being outdoors is highly motivating, engaging, and filled with opportunities to expand our thinking. This makes the great outdoors an excellent place to build executive functioning skills too.
What are executive functioning skills?
Executive functioning skills are the foundational brain-based abilities we use to plan, organize, start, and complete tasks. They include individual skills like:
- planning – being able to identify a goal and come up with a game plan to get there
- organization – developing systems to keep materials neat and tidy
- self-control – stopping and thinking in order to make a positive choice
- time management – using time wisely to accomplish goals efficiently and effectively
- problem-solving – understanding challenges and employing strategies to work through them
- flexibility – being able to think in different ways, shift our thinking, and consider the perspectives of others
We use these skills in everything we do! They are important for learning new ideas and building solid academic skills. Executive functioning skills are also essential for relationships and getting along with others. At the same time, we use these skills personally to do and feel our best.
Learn more about executive functioning skills and why they matter for kids and teens.
Using nature to build executive functioning skills
Why should we use nature to boost and build our executive functioning skills? Nature is the original classroom. Being outside provides a number of benefits. To start, nature is calming. Research shows that even spending just 20 minutes outside connecting in nature reduces stress hormones. In another large study of 20,000 people, those who spent two hours a week outdoors were far more likely to report positive well-being. Going one step further, an extensive review of the research indicates evidence for associations between nature and improved mental health, sleep, cognitive function, attention, and more. Nature also provides opportunities for social connection and physical activity.
Of course, this is one of those topics where the research is helpful but almost not needed; simply go spend a few minutes outside watching wildlife or a scenic sunset and you will experience some of those positive effects for yourself pretty quickly.
And while it’s true that we can work on executive functioning skills in many different ways, getting outside serves as the perfect window to work on skills like building attention, self-control, and flexibility.
Below you will find over ten nature activities that give opportunities to boost executive functioning skills. Any greenspace will do, whether that area is just outside your school building, a local park down the street, or a hike in the woods. Choose your favorites, get outside, and build executive functioning skills together!
Take a Wonder Walk
Skills: metacognition, attention, flexibility, intrinsic motivation
Nature is filled with wonder and excitement when you just take the time to pay attention. A wonder walk is a walk outside where you give special focus and attention to anything that sparks your interest, wonder, and curiosity.
As you walk, point out different things that interest or amaze you.
You can also come up with a wonder list, or a set of questions or ideas you wonder about. You might wonder why the sky is blue or if birds can understand each others’ languages. Feel free to ponder these. If time allows at some point, you can take action by researching a topic to find out more.
Find the ABCs
Skills: metacognition, attention, self-control
While outside, use the power of focus to look for something starting with each letter of the alphabet starting with A. For example, when looking for something starting with A, you might notice the air, acorns on the ground, and airplanes flying overhead. Keep focusing on one letter at a time to build your focus. Then, move on to the next letter.
Use this activity to teach learners that we can focus our attention on what we want in the moment. Even if distractions come up along the way, we can pull ourselves back on track.
Outdoor Mindful Breathing
Skills: self-control, attention
Practice deep breathing exercises as a strategy to build self-regulation, focus, and inner calm. Slowly blow bubbles or pinwheels to make mindful breathing a hands-on activity outside. Ultimately, this becomes a memorable breathing strategy kids can use anytime they need extra calm and focus.
If you don’t have any props, that’s okay too! Any breathing exercise will do. Stand or sit comfortably. Practice slow inhales and slow exhales as you feel the air around you.
If the season is right, you can even try spring-focused breathing exercises like butterfly breathing, focused fox, and bear breathing.
Once you’ve learned a few different mindful breathing exercises, you can even add breathing cards on a ring. These make a great tool to grab and bring with you on the go.
Plant a Garden
Skills: planning, organization, task initiation
Plan and put together an outdoor gardening space. Use the planning phase to research what types of plants you would like to grow. For example, you might want to plant vegetables, shrubs, or flowers. You will also want to look up which strategies might work best to grow each individual item. Lastly, you will need to list out the materials to make it happen, such as soil, watering cans, seeds, rakes, and more. This is a healthy exercise to help kids and teens truly plan and organize before they start a project.
After the planning and organizing phase, put your plan in action! Gardening takes time, effort, and practice to get things right, but it’s an amazing accomplishment to feel proud of once it is set up.
Free Play
Skills: flexibility, attention, self-control, perseverance, time management
In today’s busy world, there is never enough time devoted to free play. Free play builds a variety of executive functioning skills from attention to self-control in the most natural of ways. This unstructured time allows kids to explore, get curious, learn social rules, solve challenges, and work successfully with others.
To get started, get a group of learners together and give them a designated time to talk, explore, and play on their own. If your learners need a little more guidance to get started, encourage them to:
- Make up their own game together
- Explore a new area
- Act out a scene in a movie or book
- Find something interesting together
- Role-play by pretending they are explorers, scientists, or anything else
Nature Brain Break
Skills: self-control, attention
Use nature-focused brain breaks to remind learners that we all need breaks sometimes! In fact, healthy brain-boosting breaks (like time out in nature) actually help replenish our thinking abilities.
If you can’t get outside, try brain breaks with a nature theme. For example, have students sit comfortably and hold their arms out like the wings of a hawk. Slowly breathe in and out as you picture flying over a vast land.
Mindful Nature Walk
Skills: attention, self-control
Mindful nature walks provide the opportunity to focus our attention, calm our minds, and strengthen self-regulation skills. To give this a try, spend time calmly walking in nature together. As you explore, pause to notice what you see, hear, smell, and feel around you.
On a mindful nature walk, it is important to truly take your time. Go slow and enjoy the walk! The goal is learn how to use nature to calm our bodies and minds.
After your walk, practice reflection by listing at least three different things you noticed.
Start a Nature Journal
Skills: time management, attention, flexibility
Start a nature journal using a simple notebook or set of blank pages. For a few minutes each day, have students find something interesting to observe. Students can draw a picture and write about what they found.
You can extend this activity by having students generate questions and research answers about what they have found.
Nature Scavenger Hunt
Skills: attention, self-control, metacognition
Nature scavenger hunts are an engaging way to boost focus, self-control, and more. First, choose a list of nature items you want to find on your outing. You might look for items such as: leaf, pinecone, bug, puddle, grass, worm, butterfly, and feather. Coming up with your own list together helps activate background knowledge and build curiosity.
Once outside, allow learners to head out and find the scavenger hunt items. Once each item is found, sketch a drawing or take a picture to discuss later.
Play Movement Games
Skills: attention, self-control, working memory
Use movement games to get active while you learn outside. One to try is “Follow the Beat.” For this activity, stomp your feet or clap your hands in a beat. Then, have everyone else repeat that beat back to you. Let students become the leader as well.
You can also try other executive functioning boosting movement games like “Stoplight!” and “Simon Says.”
Shades of Nature
Skills: organization, attention
Grab a clipboard and head outside. Try to find several items outside for each color. For example, for the color green you might find grass, leaves, moss, and a shiny green bug. For blue, you might find the feather of a Blue Jay and the blue reflection of the water in a puddle.
Students can list, draw, or take a picture of their finds.
Observe Nature
Skills: attention, self-control
Practice calming your mind with just observing your surroundings. When you find something interesting, such as an ant crawling along a flower, just wait and watch. Observe and let nature be! This exercise not only builds our attention skills, but also our self-control.
Positive Affirmations
Skills: attention, self-control
Positive self-talk is a powerful tool we can use to help us get started on tasks and work through challenges along the way. Supportive words can also help motivate us, cope with tough emotions, and feel more confident in what we do.
Read some positive self-talk phrases outside together for extra practice.
If you can’t get outside, practice reading positive affirmations with a wildlife theme.
Use Live Wildlife Cams
Skills: attention, flexibility
When you can’t get outside, have a few wildlife cams bookmarked to check out. Live wildlife cameras provide the opportunity to view animals in their environments over time.
During nesting season, birds like Ospreys and Bald Eagles make great choices to view.
You can also check out a huge assortment of wildlife from San Diego Zoo, including koalas, pandas, tigers, and more.
Clean Up
Skills: organization, task initiation, time management
Choose an outdoor area and come up with a plan to clean it up together. You might opt to rake up some old leaves or clean up litter in your local park.
A group clean-up activity also builds responsibility and empathy by giving back to the community at the very same time.
Art in Nature
Skills: attention, planning, organization
Head out and explore to find an interesting nature scene to draw. Look for a flowing river, a path through a forest, or anything else. Take a picture with your mind. Then, draw, paint, or color the scene.
Watch the Changes
Skills: attention, metacognition, flexibility
Choose something in nature that you know will change over time, such as a small plant growing or a bird nest being built. Observe the item and take note of what you see. Keep coming back to the same place to observe, making note of the changes along the way.
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