Effects of Forest Activities on Sleep and Problematic Behaviors in Young Children

Effects of Forest Activities on Sleep and Problematic Behaviors in Young Children

Background and objective: This study aims to determine the effects of forest activities, such as forest meditation and forestexperience, on young children's sleep and problematic behaviors and to compare the changes that occur according to thetype of forest activity. Methods: Fifty-nine five-year-old children from early childhood education institutions in Cheongju City, Korea, participated. The experiment took place over five weeks between May 3 and 31, 2022. Activities were conducted twice a week for a totalof eight sessions. The forest meditation and forest experience groups carried out activities in the forest. The control groupcarried out thematic activities according to the Nuri curriculum followed by early childhood education institutions. TheKorean version of the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire was used to assess the participants' sleep duration and sleephabits, and the Korean Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1.5-5 was used to assess problematic behaviors. Results: We found a statistically significant increase in the average sleep duration of the children in the meditation group,as well as a statistically significant decrease in their total sleep habits score and the scores of the bedtime resistance, sleeponset delay, and sleep anxiety subdomains of sleep habits. A statistically significant decrease was observed in the forestexperience group's scores for total problematic behaviors and internalizing problems. We also found a statistically significantpositive correlation between sleep habits and problematic behaviors. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that static activities, such as forest meditation activities, increase sleep durationand improve sleep habits, while dynamic activities, such as forest experience activities, improve problematic behaviors andinternalizing problems. Providing specific programs that appropriately utilize static and dynamic forest activities can helpimprove sleep and problematic behaviors in young children.