DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR A COMPLEMENTARY NATURE-CONNECTED INDOOR-OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENTS TO FOSTER CHILDREN’S HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT: A REVIEW

Reconnecting children with nature through a high-quality indoor and outdoor environment is crucial for supporting children’s holistic developmental needs, such as cognitive, physical, social, and emotional growth. Nature has a long history of contributing to children’s development, but today’s children are disconnected from the outdoor environment where they can engage with nature directly. Indoor environments and spaces, however, also play an important role in reconnecting children with nature. Hence, it is crucial to better understand the natural context and design elements for both indoor and outdoor environments that support children’s holistic development. Based on a systematic review, this paper presents a review of indoor and outdoor nature's contribution to children’s development. This review highlights the importance of children’s indoor and outdoor environments, which complement each other in contributing to their development. Views of nature, indoor plants, green walls, and natural lighting are important indoor design elements that need to be considered in designing children’s indoor spaces. Meanwhile, green areas and natural play spaces are fundamental for children’s development in the outdoor environment. The findings provide a foundation for design strategies aimed at integrating multi-natural environments in both indoor and outdoor environments and spaces to foster children’s holistic development. Directions for future research are also outlined.