2.1.2. Relationship between Child Development & Physical Environment

can only pass through these levels in the aforementioned order and not all people reach all three stages.

Interconnectivities do exist between different stages of growth, in fact, these processes of growth occur in tandem and the status of each development stage in a child at a particular point in time is reflected in his/her behaviour. For example, a child who is undergoing mental stress will experience a decline in their ability to comprehend, respond or reason, in short its cognitive development will face a setback. This would in turn affect the child’s ability to communicate and articulate, which would come under the realm of social development. In short, these processes do not occur in vacuum.

2.1.2. Relationship between Child Development & Physical Environment

All of the stages of development discussed above have one thing in common; each to an extent calls for engagement/interaction of the child with the environment; this in turn brings out the importance of the relationship between the child and the environment. The environment is responsible for eliciting appropriate responses from a child to affect proper growth and development in all aspects. Growing up is essentially the first mode in which a child learns and comprehends the world around it, and the environment around it has the ability to either aid this process or hamper it. Several studies point to the verification of this aspect of child development, taking the example of multiple experiments conducted to understand the relationship between child development and nature. Attentiveness of children in pre-school was found to have improved when they were allowed to play in green outdoor spaces full of vegetation, as compared to settings with lesser amounts of greenery (Mårtensson et al., 2009). Environments offering a variety of play activities promote exploration and inquisitiveness, while also aiding in the development of motor skills and coordination (Fjortoft, 2001). Natural diverse environments also offer up huge imaginative and creative potential, with children from a particular study preferring natural spaces such as the forests and the orchards to conduct their social activities. (Said, 2012). Children living close to natural rural settings have also been found to have lower stress levels in a study conducted by Wells & Evans (2003).