Interrogating the "When I Was Young" Trope: Supporting Children's Play for Nature Connection and Resilience through the Development of an Alternative Nature Toolkit

Interest in how children engage with nature play has intensified as concerns have grown over children's lack of opportunities to engage with nature. In this two-part study, we first review literature on changing childhood experiences and present considerations for future studies and practices. From this, we outline how we worked with 12 parents/carers to develop a progressive, research-informed toolkit to support children's nature connectedness and resilience through play. We argue that there is a need to expand studies and practices that appropriately and meaningfully support today's children to engage with nature play.