Children are drawn to and curious about nature. An explosion of nature schools, family nature clubs, natural playgrounds, and conversations about sustainability happening in their daily lives and in society writ large means that, perhaps more than ever, children are surrounded by and displaying keen interest in the relationship between nature and the human-made world.

Some young children may find discussions about sustainability, climate crises, and natural disasters daunting or scary. However, when these conversations focus on concrete actions and efforts that they and their communities can take to be “nature protectors” who have agency and power to effect change despite the magnitude of the unfolding crisis, children may be more likely to develop lifelong habits oriented toward sustainability.

When speaking with young children it is crucial to approach these discussions in a way that acknowledges uncertainty, offers information in digestible chunks, and remains sensitive to the possibility of overwhelm while also respecting children’s abilities. It is a delicate balance. A solution-oriented approach can help children feel safe, secure, agentic, and empowered.

As ever, the challenge remains to wonder: How might those who work with and for children support them in developing these dispositions? One potentially helpful framework comes, of all places, from the United Nations (UN).

In 2005, the UN identified four types of Ecosystem Services as part of its Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (or MA). These Ecosystem Services refer to offerings that nature makes to humans, and include provisioning services (what nature gives), regulating services (that maintain health), cultural services (that impact our minds), and supporting services (how nature maintains its systems and our own). We suggest that engaging in conversations that center these services might comprise its own sort of sustainability-oriented work. These services encourage us all to move beyond the more common (yet still valuable) efforts like recycling, composting, and gardening in our care for and stewardship of the environment. The concrete, targeted ways presented by the MA Ecosystem Services may help children to regain or deepen a sense of agency as they face the complex challenges of engaging with and in the environment (Table 1).

In what follows, we explore how supporting children’s engagement with the ideas that are central to each of these services might look in practice. As you read, we invite you to wonder: Might you implement any of these? If so, which sounds the most feasible? If implementation might be more of a challenge, why is that? Where might you begin?

Exploring Each of the Ecosystem Services

Provisioning Services

Provisioning services refer to the “things” nature gives us. Appreciating and exploring these services can involve considering how nature provides humans and other creatures with food and water, how nature provides material from plants and animals that enable us to make everything from paper to fabric to medicine.

In order to scaffold children’s reflection on provisioning services you might:

• Weed a garden.
• Discuss why this process is valuable for some plants even though it may seem to be harming others.
• Collect water from rain barrels.
• Discuss how rainwater is naturally soft and free of chemicals, making it more healthy for plants.
• Bring soil and fertilizer to plants.
• Discuss the soil, the nutrients it carries, and bringing in new soil to replenish older soil.
• Practice leaving some behind when picking flowers and other plants.
• Discuss that, when we pick flowers, we’re taking away the plant’s chance to produce seeds and continue its life cycle. By leaving some flowers behind, we’re allowing them to go to seed and create new plants.

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Regulating Services

Regulating services refer to the things that nature provides and the processes it undergoes that keep humans healthy. Consider things like clean air from trees and other plants, natural water purification systems, pollination from bees, and tree roots that keep soil from eroding.

To support children’s learning about the regulating services provided to us by nature, educators might:

• Seek out and map areas of natural shade to enjoy together or alone. Notice how shady and sunny spots feel different.
• Discuss the concept of space and how it can be divided into different zones, like sunny and shady areas. Discuss which feels best to them.
• Notice how the air is different next to busy parking lot versus in a natural area, like an arboretum.
• Discuss why the air feels different in different places and what factors might contribute to these differences.
• Help bees by planting and caring for plants like alyssum, zinnias, sunflowers, salvia, and verbena.
• Discuss the life cycle of plants and the interactions between plants and insects.
• Conduct simple science experiments using water filtration and water quality tests using nearby water sources, like ponds or puddles.
• Discuss the basic steps of the scientific method, including observation, hypothesis, experimentation, and conclusion.

Cultural Services

Cultural services refers to the ways that nature influences “local, national, and global cultures; [contribute to] the building of knowledge and the spreading of ideas; [and foster] creativity born from interactions with nature.” (World Wildlife Federation, n.d.).

Some activities that may support this learning are: art-making inspired by nature, splashing in a brook, cloud-gazing, bird-watching, and so on.

In order to invite children to think about cultural services you might:

• Notice, discuss, and document how it feels to play in and with nature.
• Discuss how spending time in nature can make people feel better as it can reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance creativity.
• Share with one another what parts of nature we are grateful for, inspired by, or feel relaxed with.
• Discuss how sharing experiences can foster cultural understanding and appreciation for nature.
• Build forts and rock gardens, care for pet rocks, go on hikes, hop in brooks and puddles, or even fly a kite.
• Discuss how children can express their imagination and creativity through building and designing in and
  with nature.
• Brainstorm and document ways to enjoy nature alone, with friends or classmates, and with families.
• Discuss ways that children might like to or enjoy spending time in nature and the benefits of those activities.
• Point out and talk about the role that nature plays in so many of the stories we read/hear and art that we make/engage with. Try to imagine what those experiences might be like without nature.
• Discuss how different cultures represent nature in their art and stories so children can gain a broader cultural perspective.

Supporting Services

Supporting services refer to how nature uses its own processes to keep itself and us healthy. Considering things like photosynthesis, the creation of soils, and the water cycle are all possible pathways to understanding and appreciating these supporting services.

A few activities and experiences that may provide natural avenues toward thinking about supporting services are:

• Collecting leaves in the fall and studying how their colors have changed.
• Discussing changes in nature by observing and/or handling leaves of different textures and colors to engage curiosity and the physical senses of sight, smell, and touch.
• Reading about the water cycle in books like All the Water in the World by Ella Lyon and Tillotson or Blue Floats Away by Jonker and Snider. You might even use cameras to photograph bodies of water, clouds, and even rain!
• Discussing the processes of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
• Collecting and looking closely at soil from nearby areas using magnifying glasses (or cost-effective digital microscopes) and small tongs.
• Considering the diversity of life in the soil, including microorganisms and insects.
• Creating and maintaining simple bird feeders that attach to windows or nearby fences. Observe the wildlife that visits them. (Note: Depending on your resources, binoculars or trail cameras can also be useful for this!)
• Discussing observations about different bird species and their behaviors, and how caring for the bird feeder requires responsibility and empathy.

Setting a Solid Foundation

The Ecosystem Services Framework offers a useful perspective for adults striving to develop their own and children’s knowledge of the reciprocity inherent in the relationships between humans and the wider world. According to The World Wildlife Federation (WWF), this approach can help children understand the tangible benefits that accrue to humans from these services and to embrace the intangible joy and pleasure they provide. By leveraging these ecosystem services, we can support children in developing a sense of sustainability agency, which refers to their ability to take action to protect the environment. The Ecosystems Services framework offers a valuable model for how to think about and develop a relationship with nature grounded in gratitude for all that it provides. Providing children with the language to talk about, and the tools to use, in supporting nature will empower them in their lifelong journeys as good stewards of a healthy earth.

References

Jonker, T., & Snider, G. (2021). Blue floats away. Dial Books for Young Readers.

Lyon, G. E., & Tillotson, K. (2012). All the water in the world. Henry Holt and Co.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. (2005). About the millennium ecosystem assessment. millenniumassessment.org

World Wildlife Fund (n.d.). People and communities. Worldwildlife.org