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Smartboard Users

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What is a

Nature Prescription?

Activity

03.

Overview – Now that students have discovered what nature is and what activities they enjoy doing in nature, they can start to think about creating their own personalized Nature Prescription! A Nature Prescription is all about spending time in natural environments to boost positive emotions, improve mood and self-esteem, and enhance overall wellbeing. This skill encourages you to spend at least 120 minutes per week outdoors — whether that’s a walk in the park, gardening or simply sitting under a tree. Students will start to track their own time outside and think about how they can create their own nature prescription to maximize time outside to improve wellbeing!

Activity 3 Skill Goal – Students will be able to 1) identity what a Nature Prescription is and 2) begin to track and reflect on their current time outside.

Activity Outline —

• Watch: Why doctors are increasingly prescribing nature

• Nature Prescriptions Defined

• Wild Time Tracker

Materials —

• Wild Time Tracker

• Wild Time Tracker (modified version with images)

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Nature Prescriptions Defined

A Nature Prescription is a positive intervention focused on spending time in natural environments to boost positive emotions, improve mood and self-esteem, �and enhance overall wellbeing.

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Student Activity: Print and hand out the Wild Time Tracker worksheet OR the modified version with images (next slide). Instruct students to start tracking and recording their adventures outdoors — whether it’s a walk in the park, cloud-watching, hiking, gardening, or just sitting under a tree – over the next few weeks. Students can write in the date, what they did in nature, how much time they spent, and which positive emotion they experienced while doing it.

Consider allotting a specific time during each week (perhaps at the beginning of the week to account for weekend activities) for students to complete their wild time tracker.

Tracking wild time is a great way to start noticing how much time you’re already spending in nature each week – and see what areas you can enhance and get more of to reach your Nature Prescription of 120 minutes!

*Note: there are two options for this worksheet/activity. Determine which is best for your student ahead of time and print and handout the appropriate version.

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Student Activity: Print and hand out the Wild Time Tracker worksheet (previous slide) OR the modified version with images. Instruct students to start tracking and recording their adventures outdoors — whether it’s a walk in the park, cloud-watching, hiking, gardening, or just sitting under a tree – over the next few weeks. Students circle the activity they did in nature, how much time they spent, and which positive emotion they experienced while doing it.

Consider allotting a specific time during each week (perhaps at the beginning of the week to account for weekend activities) for students to complete their wild time tracker.

Tracking wild time is a great way to start noticing how much time you’re already spending in nature each week – and see what areas you can enhance and get more of to reach your Nature Prescription of 120 minutes!

*Note: there are two options for this worksheet/activity. Determine which is best for your student ahead of time and print and handout the appropriate version.