Research shows that spending time in natural environments has a range of benefits for children. Dr Sue Elliot has identified the following positive outcomes for children participating in a bush kinder program.

• Physical activity – children take part in more physical activity outdoors during in-nature programs and in all weather. This is an important outcome for children as more and more children and families have limited access to natural environments at home.
   

• Nature dispositions – many parents reported that their child had a greater interest in nature and positive attitudes to natural elements.
   

• Social skills – educators and teachers observed more collaborative play and children relating to others with understanding, respect and supportiveness.
   

• Respect and equity – educators and teachers observed less gender stereotyped play at bush kinder than at the service premises, and when siblings visited bush kinder they integrated easily into the play scenarios; all children were welcomed to play
   

• Curiosity – Bush kinder aligns with the approved learning frameworks outcome that ‘children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflectivity’.
   

• Reflection skills – Children changed the way they interacted with the environment and spent periods of time sitting, reflecting and participating in philosophical discussions with peers, educators and teachers.
   

• Creativity – Parents described that at home, children became less dependent on manufactured toys, and instead collected rocks, twigs and other natural materials for innovative and creative play (Chancellor and Elliot, 2014).