Developing Place Attachment Through Imaginative Thinking
- Katherine Wheatley
- Jul 20, 2021
- 2 min read
I first discovered Place Attachment on an INSET training day as part of an introduction to Imaginology and instantly saw the benefits of using this with primary aged children to develop place attachment. It very quickly became part of my practice, particularly when learning in the outdoors associated and making links with conservation. As ECO-Schools Leader at that time, I developed a whole school ‘Adopt a Tree’ initiative, which involved all classes regularly taking walks in the local park and visiting a designated class tree. In short, the intention of this whole school project was to promote outdoor learning, develop children’s attachment to their local parkland, develop nature knowledge and a deeper connection to nature – learning about it, visiting it, and ultimately leading to the desire to protect it.
For the purpose of ‘Creating Trails for Woodland Tales’, we’ve created a visual journey to show the progression of a session you could do with young learners. I have used this myself with children in Year 1 up to Year 4 and know it works wonderfully - it does exactly what it sets out to achieve; children experiencing nature and feeling attached to local wildlife, combined with outrage at the thought of someone taking this away from them, to exploring the actions we could and should take to protect it.
After children have spent time exploring, engaging and interacting with nature along the trail, focus their attention on one tree or an area of interest (I’ve always chosen a tree, but I notice that other educators have used this activity using buildings). It takes about 20-30 minutes to run through the journey outlined on the session map and provides lots of opportunities for children to share and explore their feelings and actions. Allow time for children to discuss and share ideas using their imagination to reinforce the connection they are making.
I have had amazing responses from all children and it is a really powerful way of getting children to bond with the tree and its habitat, through the art of imagination.
“I want this tree to be here forever!”
“Why would anyone want to chop this down?”
“Can I write a letter to help save the tree?”
I know you will get the same.
Please share the responses you get on our Instagram and Facebook page as we love to collect all the wonderful connections with nature you all make.
Together we make a difference!
Take a look at this website as it give a great overview of the research behind it.
Kath Wheatley
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