Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 update
The Blue Car in the Forest: Exploring Children’s Experiences of Sustainability in a Canadian Forest
An abandoned 1958 car in a forest became a year-long prompt for preschoolers and their nature teachers to explore sustainability together.
What's new
This study is part of a larger ethnographic case study of a Canadian nature school. Over one year it examined how eight children aged 3–5 and their two nature teachers engaged critically with an abandoned blue car in the forest where they played and learned. Data included photos, videos, participant observation, educator journals, and the children's oral and written ideas about the project and sustainability. The study offers a glimpse of the possibilities that emerge when children's thinking, decisions and actions in the more-than-human world are included in sustainability learning.
Why it matters in Aotearoa
Unexpected objects or features in a local outdoor site can become rich starting points for sustainability inquiry that children lead. This suits early childhood and nature programmes in Aotearoa.
Putting it into practice
When children notice something puzzling at a regular outdoor site, such as rubbish, a ruin or a changed stream, let it become a longer-term inquiry shaped by their questions and decisions.
How strong is the evidence
This is a small qualitative case study of eight children in one setting. It is useful for ideas and possibilities, and its findings cannot be generalised.
What to read
The full article, for its account of how the inquiry developed over the year.