How do we encourage children to notice nature, explore their surroundings and develop a genuine connection with the natural world?
For many teachers and parents, the answer can feel more complicated than simply saying, “Go outside.”
Children need opportunities to explore, move, imagine, investigate and experience nature in ways that feel joyful rather than forced.
Stories can provide a wonderful starting point.
In this episode of The Muddy Puddle Teacher Podcast, Sarah Seaman speaks with Irish children’s author Olivia Hope about her beautiful picture book Be Wild, Little One and the ideas of freedom, wildness and connection with nature that run through her work.
Olivia’s book celebrates forests, mountains, seas, skies and the sense of possibility that can come from experiencing the natural world.
The conversation offers teachers, Early Years practitioners and parents a lovely opportunity to think about how books can inspire children to step beyond the page and explore the world around them.
This guide explores practical ways to use children’s literature, storytelling and simple outdoor experiences to strengthen children’s connection with nature.
Listen to Sarah Seaman in Conversation With Olivia Hope
About the Olivia Hope Podcast Episode
The episode Let’s get Wild Little Ones with Author Olivia Hope was released on 14 July 2022 as part of The Muddy Puddle Teacher Podcast.
The conversation lasts approximately 22 minutes and introduces listeners to Olivia’s work as a children’s writer and the ideas behind Be Wild, Little One.
Olivia is an Irish writer with a particular love for stories about wild children. Before becoming an author, she worked as a teacher and creative arts facilitator and also competed internationally as an athlete. She now lives in South West Ireland with her family.
Her background in education, creativity and movement makes her work a particularly natural fit with The Muddy Puddle Teacher® approach.
Both celebrate children as active, curious learners who need opportunities to move, imagine, explore and experience the world rather than encountering everything through worksheets and screens.
What Is Be Wild, Little One About?
Be Wild, Little One is a lyrical picture book written by Olivia Hope and illustrated by Daniel Egnéus.
The book celebrates the natural world and invites children into landscapes filled with forests, mountains, oceans, animals, stars and possibility.
Rather than presenting nature as something children need to study formally, the book encourages them to experience it.
The message is one of curiosity, freedom and wonder.
It encourages children to move through the world boldly, notice its beauty and embrace the wildness within themselves.
The book was Olivia Hope’s debut picture book and was published by Bloomsbury.
For teachers, books like this can provide much more than a lovely class read.
They can become the starting point for outdoor learning, speaking and listening, creative writing, movement, science, geography, art and imaginative play.
Explore our Outdoor English and Literacy Hub for further ideas.
Why Is Connecting Children With Nature Important?
Children do not automatically develop a relationship with nature simply because they occasionally spend time outdoors.
Connection develops through repeated experiences.
Children need opportunities to notice changes, return to familiar spaces, become curious about living things and feel comfortable spending time outdoors.
The experience does not need to involve a forest.
A child can begin connecting with nature through a tree in the playground, weeds growing between paving stones, clouds above the school field or birds visiting the roof.
What matters is helping children notice.
Adults can sometimes make nature experiences too complicated.
We create scavenger hunts, worksheets and checklists when children may benefit more from time to observe, wonder and talk.
The aim is not always to identify everything.
Sometimes the most valuable question is simply:
“What did you notice?”
Visit our Complete Guide to Outdoor Learning for more support with creating purposeful outdoor experiences.
Using Children’s Books to Build a Connection With Nature
Stories can give children a reason to look at familiar places differently.
A child who has read about a character exploring a wild landscape may begin noticing adventure within their own playground.
A tree can become a meeting place.
A collection of leaves can inspire a story.
A puddle might become an ocean.
A small patch of grass can contain an entire world when viewed closely.
This is one of the most powerful connections between children’s literature and outdoor learning.
The book provides the spark.
The outdoor environment gives children somewhere to experience the idea.
Teachers do not need to recreate every page of the story outside.
Instead, choose one important theme.
With Be Wild, Little One, that theme might be freedom, movement, adventure, noticing nature or imagining yourself within a landscape.
Then allow the children to explore that idea practically.
Try This Tomorrow: What Does Wild Feel Like?
After reading a nature-themed picture book, take children outside.
Rather than giving them a long list of objects to find, ask one simple question:
What does wild feel like?
Children might notice wind moving through their hair, a rough piece of bark, long grass, birds calling or leaves moving above them.
Ask them to choose one experience.
They could describe it to a partner, demonstrate it through movement or collect words associated with it.
Older children might turn the experience into a sentence, poem or story opening.
Younger children might express it through movement, drawing or imaginative play.
Time: 10–15 minutes.
Preparation: Almost none.
Best for: vocabulary, speaking and listening, creativity, nature connection and descriptive writing.
This is the kind of simple outdoor experience that allows a story to continue beyond the book.
Nature Books and Outdoor Literacy
Outdoor learning can provide children with richer experiences to write about.
One of the difficulties with creative writing is that children are sometimes expected to imagine everything while sitting at a desk.
Some children can do this easily.
Others need something to see, hear, feel or experience before their ideas begin to develop.
A nature-themed book can provide the language and inspiration.
The outdoor environment provides the sensory experience.
Children could listen for sounds before writing a setting description, collect vocabulary linked to movement, create a character inspired by an outdoor object or imagine where a pathway might lead.
The important point is that the outdoor experience happens before the formal writing.
Children talk, experience and rehearse their ideas first.
Writing then becomes a way of capturing something they have already begun to understand.
Explore our Teaching English Outdoors Guide for further practical literacy ideas.
Supporting Imaginative Play Outdoors
Nature connection does not always need an adult-led activity.
Imaginative outdoor play can be incredibly powerful.
A stick can become a wand, fishing rod, spoon, microphone or bridge.
Leaves can become food, money, letters or treasure.
A tree can become a house, castle or spacecraft.
Natural loose parts are particularly valuable because they do not have one fixed purpose.
Children decide what they represent.
That decision-making develops imagination, creativity and problem-solving.
Books can extend this process.
After sharing a story, instead of asking children to complete a worksheet about it, give them time and space to continue the world of the book through play.
What might the character do next?
Where might they travel?
What would they need?
Children can build, create and tell stories together.
For younger children, explore our Early Years Outdoor Play Hub.
Nature Connection Does Not Require a Forest
One of the biggest misconceptions about outdoor learning is that schools need woodland.
They do not.
Olivia Hope’s writing celebrates extraordinary natural landscapes, but children can begin developing a relationship with nature in much smaller spaces.
A playground edge can support plants and insects.
A courtyard can contain planters.
A single tree can be observed throughout the year.
Even a heavily surfaced school can explore clouds, rain, wind, sunlight, shadows and birds.
The starting point is not asking:
“What don’t we have?”
It is asking:
“What is already here?”
Once teachers begin looking at their grounds differently, they often notice many more opportunities.
Explore our Outdoor Learning Spaces – How to improve them for practical support.
Using Movement to Explore Stories
Children’s literature does not always need to lead directly into writing.
Movement can help children understand language and emotion.
In a book celebrating wildness and freedom, children might explore how different natural elements move.
How does a tree move in strong wind?
How might a wolf travel through snow?
How does water move across rocks?
What might it feel like to fly over an ocean?
Children can represent these ideas through their bodies.
This is particularly valuable for younger children and pupils who find extended verbal or written responses difficult.
Movement provides another way to communicate understanding.
It can also help vocabulary become more memorable.
Instead of simply defining words such as soar, creep, tumble or sway, children physically experience them.
Supporting SEND Through Nature Stories
Nature-based stories can provide accessible entry points for children with a wide range of needs.
Some children may engage more readily with a real object or practical experience than with an abstract classroom task.
A child who finds writing difficult may be able to demonstrate understanding through movement, matching, building or collecting.
A child who struggles with communication may use objects, symbols or gestures to make choices.
Outdoor environments can also provide more space for movement and regulation.
However, nature should never be assumed to be automatically calming for every child.
Wind, insects, mud, unpredictable sounds, sunlight and temperature can create sensory barriers.
Children should be supported according to their individual needs.
Explore our SEND Outdoor Learning Hub for specialist guidance.
Two Nature Activities Inspired by Be Wild, Little One
Create a Wild Words Collection
Take children outside and ask them to collect words rather than objects.
They might notice:
rustling,
towering,
soft,
darting,
glittering,
rough,
swaying,
tiny,
bright.
Discuss what they saw or experienced that inspired each word.
Bring the words back into the classroom and use them for poetry, descriptions or storytelling.
The focus is not spelling accuracy during the outdoor experience.
The aim is developing vocabulary through real experience.
Create Your Own Wild Journey
Ask children to imagine that the school grounds are part of a much larger adventure.
A path could become a mountain trail.
A puddle might become a lake.
A tree could mark the entrance to a forest.
Children can move through several locations and orally create a journey.
At each point, ask:
What can you see?
What can you hear?
What happens here?
The journey can later become a map, oral story, poem or piece of writing.
Keep the outdoor experience playful before moving into formal recording.
Helping Children Notice the Seasons
One of the easiest ways to build nature connection is to return to the same place throughout the year.
Choose one tree, planter, hedge or area of the school grounds.
Visit it regularly.
Ask children what has changed.
They may notice leaves appearing or disappearing, flowers developing, insects becoming more visible or shadows changing.
Photographs can help children compare observations over time.
This repeated experience helps children understand that nature is not static.
It changes continually.
Children begin to recognise patterns and anticipate what might happen next.
This also creates natural links with primary science.
Explore our Outdoor Curriculum Specialism: Primary Science for further curriculum ideas.
Bringing Nature Into Storytelling
Children do not always need elaborate prompts to create imaginative stories.
One natural object can be enough.
Ask children to choose or observe something outside.
Perhaps it is a feather, interesting stone, leaf or piece of bark.
Ask:
Where did it come from?
Who might have owned it?
Why is it important?
What happens if someone finds it?
The object becomes the starting point rather than the entire story.
This approach works particularly well for children who struggle when asked to “write a story” without any further support.
A real object provides something concrete from which imagination can grow.
Books That Encourage Children to Go Outdoors
Nature-themed children’s books can be particularly useful when they do more than provide information.
A factual book can help children identify species or understand habitats.
A story can make children want to experience nature for themselves.
Both have value.
When choosing books, consider whether they encourage curiosity.
Do they make children want to look closer?
Do they introduce interesting language?
Do they show different landscapes and experiences?
Do they give children something to wonder about?
A strong nature book can become the beginning of a much larger learning journey.
The best follow-up may sometimes be simply opening the door and going outside.
Get to Know the Guest: Olivia Hope
Olivia Hope is an Irish children’s author with a particular love for stories about wild children.
Before becoming a full-time author, Olivia worked as a teacher and creative arts facilitator and competed internationally as an athlete. She has extensive experience working with children and creative education.
She lives in County Kerry in South West Ireland with her family.
Her debut picture book, Be Wild, Little One, was published by Bloomsbury and illustrated by Daniel Egnéus. Olivia has since continued writing picture books, including Little Lion Girl, and her more recent title The Lonely Only Dinosaur, published in 2025.
Olivia’s work has a strong connection with nature, imagination, creativity and childhood freedom, making her a wonderful guest for The Muddy Puddle Teacher Podcast.
Find Olivia Hope Online
Official website:
www.oliviahopewriter.com
Instagram:
@oliviahopewriter
More Books by Olivia Hope
Olivia’s published work includes Be Wild, Little One, Little Lion Girl and The Lonely Only Dinosaur.
Her books are particularly useful for teachers interested in nature, imagination, identity, belonging and creative literacy.
Rather than treating an author’s book as a one-off literacy activity, practitioners can use stories as gateways into several areas of learning.
A picture book might inspire outdoor play, science investigation, speaking and listening, art, movement, emotional literacy or creative writing.
The story creates a shared starting point.
The children then take the ideas in different directions.
Listen to Olivia Hope on The Muddy Puddle Teacher Podcast
Sarah’s conversation with Olivia is a warm and accessible episode for anyone interested in children’s literature, nature and outdoor learning.
The episode lasts around 22 minutes and explores Olivia’s work and Be Wild, Little One.
It is ideal listening for teachers, teaching assistants, Early Years practitioners, outdoor learning practitioners, librarians and parents.
Listen during your commute, lunch break or planning time and consider one simple question afterwards:
How could the next story you read with children continue outside?
Listen to the Olivia Hope Podcast Episode
Visit the Outdoor Learning Hub
Explore Early Years Outdoor Play
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Frequently Asked Questions
How can I help children connect with nature?
Begin with regular, simple outdoor experiences. Encourage children to observe, talk, play and return to familiar places rather than always giving them a structured activity to complete.
What are good books for helping children connect with nature?
Nature-themed stories such as Be Wild, Little One can encourage curiosity, imagination and outdoor exploration. Combine fiction with factual nature books to support both emotional connection and knowledge.
How can I use picture books for outdoor learning?
Read the story first, identify one theme and take that idea outside. Children might explore vocabulary, recreate a journey, investigate the environment, act out scenes or develop their own stories.
Do schools need a woodland for nature learning?
No. Children can explore plants, weather, birds, shadows, insects, seasons and natural changes within ordinary playgrounds, yards and courtyards.
Who is Olivia Hope?
Olivia Hope is an Irish children’s author and former teacher and creative arts facilitator. Her books include Be Wild, Little One, Little Lion Girl and The Lonely Only Dinosaur.
What is Be Wild, Little One about?
Be Wild, Little One is an uplifting picture book celebrating children’s sense of freedom, adventure and connection with the natural world. It was written by Olivia Hope and illustrated by Daniel Egnéus.
How long is the Olivia Hope podcast episode?
The Muddy Puddle Teacher episode with Olivia Hope runs for approximately 22 minutes.
Author
Written by Sarah Seaman PGCE MA
Founder of The Muddy Puddle Teacher®
Teacher for over 19 years
Bloomsbury author
Trainer of thousands of teachers across the UK
