Full Description
This novel text brings together research and practice on the intersection between arts and nature and their impact on children and young people's wellbeing, health equality and sustainability.
Existing literature focuses on either the impact of the arts or the impact of being in/with nature on children's and young people's wellbeing. However, the intersection between the two - arts and nature - and their combined effect on wellbeing has received limited attention. Through five research-based and seven practice-based chapters, this book draws upon arts-in-nature practices that incorporate visual arts, music, movement, drama and poetry, in a range of natural environments, such as forests, beaches, greenhouses, parks, community areas and school playgrounds.
Arts in Nature with Children and Young People will appeal to anyone working with children and young people, including mental health and healthcare professionals, teachers, researchers, artists, and arts therapists. It is also an accessible guide for parents and families looking for inspiration and ideas for creative and outdoor activities.
Contents
1. Introduction 2. Immersion and Transcendence through Music Making in the More-than-human World 3. The Breeze Forest School Project: Child-centred Support for Development and Wellbeing 4. Performing with/in Place: Exploring Sense of Place through Story Making and Sharing 5. Exploring Restorative Connections with Nature through Communicative Musicality 6. Pocket Adventures: Nurturing Young Children's Wellbeing and Development through Art-in-nature Early Childhood Education 7. The Village project: A Community of Relational Creativity 8. An Outdoor Therapy Service Offering Art Therapy for Young People and Adults 9. Learning to Live Well Together: Art and Ecological Research with Young Children 10. Forest of Imagination: Reimagining Familiar Spaces through Creativity and Nature Awareness 11. Open Spaces, Open Senses: On Sensuous Presence in Eco-somatic Practice of Felt Thinking and Therapeutic Walking with Young People 12. Open Studio in the Greenhouse: Nature-connected Expressive and Therapeutic Art Experiences with Vulnerable Adolescents 13. What's beneath our Feet? Cultivating Cultural Awareness through Arts-in-nature with Australian Children and Young People 14. Conclusion
