From worry to wonder: Supporting young children's eco-emotions through mindfulness activities

Abstract

This short colloquium explores how early childhood educators can support young children who may be experiencing eco-anxiety, such as sadness, worry, anger and concern about the environment and the world around them. It introduces eco-anxiety and eco-emotions as emerging research areas in early childhood and positions mindfulness as a way to foster presence and connection. Practical eco-mindfulness activities are provided to support educators in transforming children's worries into wonder, care, and kindness.

Introduction

Climate change is considered the greatest challenge we are faced with in the 21st century (United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), 2022). Reports from the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) keep climate change at the forefront of people's attention (Erol, 2024). Recent research argues that climate change has a particularly detrimental impact on young children, whereby they are more likely to worry about climate change and the future impact on the environment (Vergunst and Berry, 2022).

Spiteri (2025) notes that the terms ‘climate anxiety’ and ‘eco-anxiety’ are often used interchangeably within the literature. For the purpose of this paper, I use the term ‘eco-anxiety’ drawing on Pihkala’s (2020) conceptualisation, which includes feelings of fear, anxiety, anger, guilt, sadness, stress, feelings of overwhelm and excitement about the environment. Spiteri and Pace (2023) note that feelings of eco-anxiety are particularly significant for children under eight years of age, due to their developing cognitive ability to contextualise what climate change means and to understand the emotions that may arise. Moreover, other research indicates that more children are becoming aware of climate change by acquiring knowledge through their parents, social media and within the school context (Watt and Frydenberg, 2024). With the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2015) emphasising health and well-being (SDG3), quality education for all children (SDG4) and climate action (SDG 13), and with the UN Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF, 2024) call for ecological well-being to be included in early childhood education, there is a clear need to integrate eco-activities into early childhood education. This colloquium explores how eco-mindfulness activities can be put into practice to reduce children's eco-anxiety and support the development of positive eco-emotions in early childhood.

Eco-anxiety and eco-emotions in early childhood

As the literature on the impact of climate change on young children is still in its infancy, it is challenging to draw conclusions about how eco-anxiety affects them. Studies have importantly noted the absence of such studies conducted with children under eight years of age – with calls for further research to explore how children perceive climate change and investigate how they are impacted by it (Spiteri, 2025). Education is viewed by many scholars as the key, that can provide children with the knowledge and skills to understand climate change and take action regarding it (Kostanasiou, 2024; Pihkala, 2020; Spiteri, 2025; Vergunst and Berry, 2022). In their respective studies, both Erol (2024) and Watt and Frydenberg (2024) note children's awareness of environmental issues and eco-anxiety. However, Erol (2024) goes further by calling for the inclusion of children's voices in climate policymaking, a stance also echoed in UNICEF's (2023) appeal to country governments and world leaders to collaborate with children and ensure their voices are included in decisions.

The important role of education and the creation of spaces for young children to discuss climate change where they can hear inspiring stories about the environment suggest a shift towards a proactive, hopeful approach to eco-anxiety (El Omrani, 2024). It has been further suggested that while eco-anxiety may be complex and challenging to understand, acknowledging its existence is a positive starting point (Erol, 2024).

Both educators and parents have an important role to play in supporting young children's understanding of climate change, ensuring that it is effectively incorporated into the curriculum while recognising and supporting childrens' emotions that may arise (Kostanasiou, 2024). Others (e.g. El Omrani, 2024) highlight the importance of listening to children's fears, avoiding minimising their reactions and accepting them as valid responses.

Eco-emotions or climate emotions are increasingly recognised as influencing individuals’ well-being (Pihkala, 2022). Importantly, Pihkala (2022) highlights that reflection on climate change can also evoke positive emotions such as joy, wonder and interest, not just anxiety, sadness or anger. Organisations such as Early Childhood Ireland (https://ecoemotions.earlychildhoodireland.ie) build on this premise by presenting eco-emotions in early childhood education as a valuable framework for educators in supporting children's emotional regulation through sustainable nature focused activities. In this way, children are encouraged to develop their emotional awareness while learning to care for the environment. Taken together, these insights provide the rationale for introducing eco-mindfulness activities in early childhood education. Such practices can offer educators practical tools to support children's experiences with their emotions while nurturing their present-moment attention and fostering a deeper connection with nature.

The role of mindfulness

Mindfulness is often defined as ‘awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally’ (Kabat-Zinn, 1994: 4). It is the intentional practice of bringing awareness to the present moment, meeting both ourselves and our experiences with openness, curiosity and self-compassion. From my personal experience, being in nature creates a sense of calmness, interconnectedness and heightened awareness of the world around me. Research suggests that time in nature and developing a sense of connectedness with it, not only enhances our health and well-being but also strengthens our understanding of our shared place within the natural world (Van Gordon et al., 2018). UNICEF (2024) has called for building young children's affinity and harmony with nature, recognising that this process takes time and requires repeated experiences for children to appreciate the value of nature. Therefore, the activities presented here offer a starting point for educators – simple everday practices that can be embedded into interactions with young children to foster mindfulness, presence and connection with the Earth.

Practical eco-mindfulness activities

Eco-mindfulness combines mindfulness with nature to help children slow down, connect with nature and transform eco-anxiety into love and care for the Earth. These activities are simple practices that bring children into the present moment through nature, supporting them in exploring and understanding eco-emotions with curiosity and compassion. The following activities are not intended to be an exhaustive list but rather provocations,starting points for educators that can be adapted for a variety of ages, developmental stages, and contexts. Each activity can be extended beyond its initial form and can be co-constructed by educators and children.

Nature detectives

Rationale

This activity fosters mindfulness skills by teaching children to slow down. It provides an opportunity to notice details and helps children connect with nature in a calming way.

What to do

Take the children outdoors and ask them to become nature detectives. Invite them to take a gentle breath in and out. After each sensory investigation invite the children to take a soft breath before moving onto the next sense. Say to them:

‘Let's look around and find one thing we can see in nature’. Invite the children to share what they saw.

‘Let's listen very carefully to one thing we can hear in nature’. Invite the children to share what they heard.

‘Can you find one thing you can touch in nature?’ Invite the children to share what they touched.

‘What is one thing you can smell in nature?’ Invite the children to share what they smelt.

‘What is one thing you can feel inside your body right now? Do you feel calm/excited?’ Invite the children to share what they felt and ask them to take a final soft breath together.

Tree breathing

Rationale

This activity introduces children to calm breathing and provides a way of being in the present moment. It encourages them to build an appreciation for trees, teaching them that trees provide us with air to breathe each day.

What to do

This activity can be done either indoors or outdoors. Invite the children to stand like a tall tree and imagine their feet are the roots of the tree in the earth, and their arms are the branches. Invite them to take a deep breath in and watch their branches grow tall (arms up), and then invite them to take a breath out and watch their branches relax (arms down). Repeat a few times.

Painting without paint brushes

Rationale

This activity encourages children to play with natural objects; it builds appreciation for the beauty of nature and sensory awareness, reduces reliance on plastic objects and calms a busy mind.

What to do

Invite the children to collect fallen leaves, pinecones, tree bark, feathers, sticks, flowers or anything natural they may find. Ask them to take a moment and feel each object in their hands and invite them to describe what they feel. For example, the softness of feathers, the bumpy quality of pinecones, the roughness of the bark. Explain that together you will use the items for painting instead of paintbrushes. When painting with the objects, ask them to notice the different textures and patterns they make.

Recycling circle time

Rationale

This activity builds problem solving and critical thinking. It supports children’s autonomy and teaches them to care for the Earth. It transforms eco-anxiety into action.

What to do

Bring some recyclable items (e.g. plastic, jam jars) to the classroom to show the children. Sit in a circle and pass around the items and provide provacations such as, ‘What could we do with these items instead of throwing them away? Perhaps some can be used for crafts, perhaps some can be recycled for another purpose’.

Concluding thoughts

Although research with young children regarding climate change, eco-anxiety and eco-emotions is still limited, qualitative studies are essential to understand how children perceive and experience these challenges. Both El Omrani (2024) and Erol (2024) note the importance of listening to children and including their voice in policymaking; therefore, I contend that further research is warranted to capture children's voice and experiences on these topics. This colloquium has offered educators a starting point by providing information on eco-anxiety and demonstrating how eco-mindfulness activities can be incorporated in early childhood education. By slowing down, being present and connecting with nature, children can experience slowness, connection, calmness, wonder, curiosity, care and love. By providing these experiences and activities has the potential to transform worry into wonder.

Spiteri (2025) reminds us that early childhood education offers an important space for addressing climate anxiety. Educators are well positioned to support children's understanding of climate change and eco-anxiety, once their own understanding is addressed and they are provided with tools to support young children to turn worry to wonder. Integrating eco-mindfulness activities into pedagogical practice in early childhood education aligns with the SDGs (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2015) by supporting children's well-being (SDG 3 good health and well-being), nurturing education (SDG 4 quality education) and cultivating active global citizens who can respond to their world with curiosity, care and compassion (SDG 13 climate action).