Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/animals-in-the-lives-of-children/5025944/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Connections—including connections with animals—play an important role in the quality of our lives. While an adult might define quality of life in terms of well-being, a child might describe it as a “life that is really good.” Twenty children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder were once asked to describe a time in their life that was “really good” for them. The children drew a picture about that time and then talked to a researcher about what they had drawn. The children’s responses indicated that three main elements made their life “really good.” These elements were activity, nature and connections (Barfield & Driessnack, 2018). We find these same three elements coming together in the connectedness-to-nature research, especially when focused on children.
Children and Animals
Some of the connectedness to nature research focuses specifically on preschool-aged children and their interactions with animals. David Sobel (2008), for example, identified “developing friendships with animals” as a universal play motif with young children. Another researcher, Matteo Giusti (2018), identified “involvement with animals” as one of the key experiences that influence children’s connection to nature. Giusti’s work focuses on developing environments for children that ...