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Nancy Rosenow, one of the organizers of the Working Forum on Nature Education for Young Children, discussed the impact of early childhood environments which provide too little or too much stimulation for children in her July 2005 Exchange article, "The Impact of Sensory Integration on Behavior: Discovering Our Best Selves." This article, which serves as the basis for a popular Out of the Box Training Kit, opens with the following message...

"We have a tradition at our staff meetings that we call 'Celebrating Successes.' Every week we tell each other stories of those magic moments when the joy of learning feels almost tangible. Recently a teacher described being so engaged with the children in creating a group dance that no one wanted the experience to end. Another told about children working outdoors who carefully and persistently experimented with willow until they figured out how to balance branches together to create a hut, literally jumping for joy when their structure stood on its own. Magic moments like these do not just happen, especially in classrooms like ours that include many children with sensory integration challenges. It takes planning and thought and more than a little faith in the power of discovery to create a learning environment that helps both children and adults find their best selves.

"In our work at the Dimensions Educational Research Foundation, we’ve found that today’s children are often over-stimulated or under-stimulated in early childhood environments . . . sometimes both at the same time! Over-stimulation can occur when classrooms or play spaces are filled with too many confusing visual images, too much noise, or no clear pattern of organization. Under-stimulation can come from a lack of fully engaging materials and activities, adults who don’t see themselves as fellow investigators with children, too much indoor time with little chance to connect with the natural world, and too much passivity. Finding ways to solve these problems can lead to calmer, happier behaviors and more fulfilling experiences for both children and adults. Our research suggests that these are some of the things that can help children the most: careful planning of classroom environments and materials (with real thought put into the selection of visual images), interactions with adults who love to learn themselves, frequent opportunities to interact in positive ways with the natural environment, and regular times to engage in purposeful movement activities."

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