How Nature Can Help Students Start the School Year

The beginning of a school year has its own particular kind of energy. Backpacks are packed again, calendars fill up, and free time suddenly has somewhere else to be. Even students who are excited to return can feel worn out by the adjustment.

It is also a shift back indoors. Classes, studying, meetings, meals, and homework can easily add up to an entire day spent under fluorescent lights or in front of a screen.

Getting outside will not make a reading assignment shorter or clear an afternoon schedule. It can, however, make a busy day feel a little more manageable.

Joanna Bettmann Schaefer, a professor in the University of Utah College of Social Work and co-leader of Nature and Human Health Utah, recently wrote about research showing that as little as 10 minutes outside can improve mental health. What is especially useful about this research is how simple the takeaway is. People benefited in all kinds of natural settings, whether they were walking, gardening, or simply sitting outside.

Ten minutes is not another major commitment. It is a break between classes, part of a lunch hour, or the time before the bus arrives.

Here are a few ways to make those minutes part of the semester.

Find an Outdoor Home Base

During the first few weeks of school, students spend a lot of time learning where things are. This year, add one outdoor place to that mental map.

Look for somewhere close enough to visit regularly, not just when there is an open afternoon. It could be a shady table near a classroom building, a quiet corner of a schoolyard, a courtyard, or a patch of grass near the library. The best spot is not necessarily the most scenic one. It is the one that is easy to return to.

At the University of Utah, students can use the campus map to find outdoor gathering spaces and walking routes. Students, faculty, and staff can also visit Red Butte Garden and Arboretum for free with a valid UCard. The garden can be a place for a longer walk, but it also works for reading, talking with a friend, or taking a real break from campus without going far.

Move One Ordinary Task Outside

Not every moment outdoors needs to be a dedicated wellness activity. Sometimes the easiest way to spend more time outside is to take something you already planned to do and change where you do it.

Read a chapter outside. Meet a classmate at a park instead of a coffee shop. Take a phone call while walking. Eat lunch somewhere with trees. Teachers might hold a class discussion outdoors, while parents could move after-school reading or snack time to the yard, porch, or nearest green space.

The task does not need to be quiet or reflective. Nature can be part of an ordinary day without the moment becoming a lesson about nature.

Use the In-Between Time

A full school day contains small stretches of time that are easy to lose to scrolling or rushing. The walk between buildings, the wait before class, and the few minutes after lunch may not feel significant, but together they create opportunities to step outside.

Try choosing one transition each day to spend outdoors. Take a slightly longer walking route. Sit outside instead of in the hallway. Before opening a laptop, look around long enough to notice one thing that has changed since yesterday.

This is not about using every spare minute productively. It is about letting at least one of those minutes feel different from the rest of the day.

Explore Somewhere New

Salt Lake County has far more parks than most of us will ever stumble across on our usual routes. The free Every Park SLC map includes all 511 parks in the county and lets users search for features such as shade, walking paths, playgrounds, bathrooms, and dog-friendly areas.

Pick a park near school, work, home, or a regular errand. It does not have to become a major outing. Visit for 15 minutes, take a lap, or bring something you already need to work on.

Families and educators can also use the Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation finder to locate nearby parks, trails, open spaces, and recreation facilities.

Finding a new place close to an existing routine makes it much more likely that you will return.

Let the Weather Be Part of the Semester

The start of school arrives at an interesting point in Utah’s seasons. The afternoons may still feel like summer, but mornings begin to cool, shadows grow longer, and the first signs of fall slowly appear.

Choose one tree or outdoor place to notice throughout the semester. Take a photo during the first week of school and return every few weeks. Notice when the leaves begin to change, when the temperature drops, or when the space becomes quieter.

Students spend the semester measuring their own progress through assignments, exams, and deadlines. Watching a familiar place change offers another way to experience the passage of time.

Keep It Small Enough to Continue

There is no shortage of advice at the beginning of a school year. Wake up earlier. Get organized. Exercise. Limit screen time. Build a better routine. Even good advice can start to feel like pressure.

Time outside does not need to become another goal to track. Start with a place you enjoy and ten minutes you already have. Return when you can.

As the research reminds us, a meaningful experience in nature does not require a mountain, a trail, or an entire free day. Sometimes it is simply choosing to spend the next few minutes outside.