The studies that focus on environment-based education, significant life experiences, and the studies comparing urban and natural places have proposed that young children’s experiences in nature affect positively their either environmental awareness or attitudes and behaviours (Ewert, Place & Sibthorp; 2005; Palmberg & Kuru, 2000). However, many studies frequently state that children spend less time in natural outdoor settings compared to previous generations (Clement, 2004; Ginsburg, 2006; Hofferth & Curtin, 2006; Mendoza, Zimmerman, & Christakis, 2007). Similarly, other studies emphasized the idea that at the beginning of 19^th century children played more outdoors compared to at the end of 19^th century (Knight, 2009; Rivkin, 1998; Thigpen, 2007). In other words, children nowadays spend most of their time inside buildings as their access to the natural outdoor environments has decreased due to several reasons. In related literature, parental concerns such as traffic, kidnapping, injury, insect-borne, diseases and pollution are suggested as major reasons for this decline. In addition, the increase of working parents and the use of technology at home are also pointed out by the researchers as reasons that prevent children to spend time in natural outdoor environments (Clement, 2004; Rivkin, 1997, 1998, 2000; O’brien & Murrey, 2007; Thigpen, 2007; Valentine & McKendrick, 1997). 

As a result of limited access to natural outdoor settings, most of children, particularly living in urban areas, do not have a chance to experience and investigate dynamic outdoor environment and natural surroundings (Pyle, 1993; Louv, 2005). Due to lack of direct experience, natural environment is perceived by children as an abstract concept (Kahn, 2002; Louv, 2005). Even, Gill (2007) called kids today as “bubble-wrap generations” to emphasize the reality that children nowadays avoid from first-hand experience with natural surroundings. Similarly, Louv (2005) in his book, Last Child in the Woods, put forward a phrase “nature deficit disorder” to refer to the deficiencies including attention disorders, depression and lack of appropriately using senses, which are frequently witnessed in recent years.

At that point, the role of early childhood institutions becomes crucial to present frequently appropriate experiences in nature for the preschoolers so that they have the opportunity to become familiar with natural surroundings (Bailie, 2012).Yet, in many countries teaching and learning standards of early childhood education are based on generally cognitive-linguistic skills. As a result of this, main learning environment is acknowledged as indoor buildings in many countries (OECD, 2006).  In other words, children’s access to natural outdoor settings through the early childhood institutions is limited to the foci point of schools on teaching and learning. However, there are still some countries such as Scandinavian countries, Germany and lastly England where children’s access to natural outdoor areas is important, (Sandseter, 2010, 2012; Ärlemalm-Hagsér & Sandberg, 2013). For instance, Forest or Nature- Based Kindergartens exist in Scandinavia, wild kindergartens in German and Forest Schools in England. In those kindergartens, children have an access to nature in which they play freely with natural materials depending on their creativity. In addition, children have the chance to discover and explore the natural surroundings in all type of weather conditions (Amus, 2013; Borge, Nordhagen, & Lie, 2003; Knight, 2009; Linde, 2010; Robertson, 2008).

Although such kind of educational implications are rooted in the Nordic countries, several other countries, which were inspired by Nordic ones, have been in effort to put the nature-based kindergartens into practices in their early childhood care and education. To illustrate, Lithuania, Japan, Russia, Wales and Scotland are some of those countries (Linde, 2010; Robertson, 2008). 

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