17 Mar, 2026

How Connecting with Nature Can Drive Further Reading

By Jo Schofield and Fiona Danks

In today’s busy world dominated by screens, schedules and structured days, nature offers something increasingly rare for children: time. Time to notice. Time to wonder. Time to ask questions. And in that time, reading can begin.

As authors of a series of books encouraging children to spend time in the natural world, we have seen again and again how connecting children with nature develops imagination and creativity, the building blocks to reading. We have seen how finding animal tracks on a muddy walk, climbing a tree or or discovering a mermaid’s purse on the beach sparks curiosity and imagination. And curiosity drives reading, and imagination underpins all storytelling.

When a child crouches down to watch a woodlouse roll into a ball, questions tumble out naturally. What does it eat? Where does it live? Is it an insect? Suddenly, reading has purpose and nature adds context to words. Non-fiction books become treasure chests full of answers. Imagination takes off and stories about beetles, underground worlds and brave, mini explorers riding woodlouse steeds take on new relevance because they relate to lived experience.

A child who has climbed a tree understands “canopy.” A child who has felt the wind and rain on their face feels the power of a “howling storm.” A child who has planted a seed grasps the quiet miracle of “germination.” Vocabulary is embodied in the real world and this deep, sensory connection develops comprehension and makes reading richer and more meaningful.

Time outdoors nurtures the skills that underpin strong reading habits, including patience, focus, observation and being able to sit quietly and notice detail. These are all helpful when following a story, inferring meaning and losing oneself in a book.

We believe strongly that when children spend time immersed in wild places, they develop a lasting connection with nature, leading to a desire to protect it. Without hands-on experience and learning through play, they won’t understand the wild world and won’t care about it. Playing outdoors leads them to want to know more about wildlife, habitats and conservation. Stories and information empower them, giving them language to express their concern and ideas for taking action to protect nature. We need future generations to care if we are all to survive.

Importantly, nature can re-engage reluctant readers. For some children, sitting indoors with a book feels restrictive. But take that same book outside, under a tree, into a den, beside a pond and something shifts. Reading becomes part of an adventure rather than a task. Even better, when children are invited to scribble notes, sketch discoveries or press leaves between pages, books become interactive companions rather than pristine objects to be preserved. This is what we’ve tried to do in our two latest books Make This Wild and Make Every Week Wild. We have tried to bridge the gap between books and adventure, so the books become an integral part of the shared outdoor experience. When we connect children with nature we are grounding literacy in real experience and giving stories roots.

In this National Year of Reading, perhaps the most powerful way to inspire lifelong readers is not simply to hand children a book, but to first hand them a magnifying glass, a seed packet, or the freedom to explore a patch of the wild. Because once a child has discovered the wonder of the world around them, they will want to read more about it.