What if every child could be connected to nature?

Words by Ali Shand.

For a second, I want you to put yourself in the shoes of a 9-year-old. Imagine its first thing in the morning and you’re on a bus on the way to somewhere you’ve likely never been before. You get off the bus sometime later, and are greeted by a handful of ultra enthusiastic adults who present you with a line of cones and ask you how connected to nature you feel. ’Seriously?!’ you think, ‘I’m literally half an hour from my coco pops and you’re asking me about cones and nature…ok then’. 

For around a hundred kids this summer (and every summer for the past 3 years) this is how we have started each morning and afternoon for a week in August, amongst the frankly ridiculously pretty surroundings of Comrie Croft in Perthshire, Scotland.

And those enthusiastic adults? They are a core of the TFT A-Team and Comrie Croft staff who collaborate every year to take these kids on a journey. One which will guide them through conversation, action, reflection and excitement (read, bikes!) to try and address what we at TFT see as the elephant in the room (or should that be crisp packet in the woods?) of the single use pollution issue - disconnection from nature.

This, is what we call the TrashMob Academy.

Here’s the pitch then. Research from Save the Children in 2022 showed that just 27% of kids say they regularly play outside (that’s compared to 71% of the previous generation). So that raises a question, right? How do you engage someone in something they are potentially unfamiliar with, and to such an extent that they want to really, and properly care for and protect it?

It comes down to a positive experience. If you can provide an environment and an experience which positively engages someone then you are more likely to foster a sense of connection to that thing…or (and you’ll see where I’m going with this)… that place. And that’s exactly what the TrashMob Academy seeks to do. Alright, but how do we know it’s effective? Well I started this piece writing about cones and nature, and that’s how we know. More on that later though.

In the meantime, a bit of honesty. Creating that kind of experience doesn’t happen overnight. Over the past few years a partnership has been fostered between TFT and Comrie Croft to create an experience for children which we think is truly unique. It’s taken time, through iteration and revision, so to explain, grant me a few minutes of your time to reflect on the 2025 sessions through the lens of three things:

Inclusivity

Every kid who joins the TrashMob Academy does so with the same intended outcome - (re)connection with nature. Not every kid is the same though, so we strive for that outcome through an inclusive approach. Interested in shredding MTBs – we’ve got you. The amazing Scott and Emily from Comrie Croft Bikes will guide you through green to blue trails, track stands to attack position. However, if that’s not your thing that’s cool with us. Join A-Teamers Lauren and Jo for a guided walk to the local waterfall instead.

The point is there’s something for everyone. For 2025 this was more on show than ever. This was demonstrated best with how kids returned from their various sessions. Some rallied back at base camp soaking wet, covered in mud, but smiling and laughing after a MTB session, and some turned up (believe me, you heard them before you saw them) chanting ‘TRASH MOB’ at the top of their lungs after walking in the local woodland for the past hour. The takeaway here is that every child is engaged in the Academy in a way that works for them, and which fosters…

Positivity

Stay with me on this one. ‘Positivity conformity’ comes from a piece of research undertaken at Stanford University some years ago, which found that people imitate not only positive actions, but also the spirit underlying them. Put simply, it implies that positivity, or kindness, is not only contagious, but can cascade across people taking new forms as it goes.

Why do I mention this? Because it’s a core outcome of the Trashmob Academy experience. This year we inspired positivity for nature in a range of different ways – MTB coaching, nature walks, reflection, even outdoor classroom activities, all done in collaboration with our partners at the Croft, and all done with the aim of promoting positivity, engagement, and connection with the outdoors through…

Exploration

Using our senses has always been a staple of the Trashmob Academy week. It’s how we get kids to really focus on and connect with nature. Mindful minutes (hearing), rock games (touch), finger binoculars (sight) amongst other activities – all good fun, and all come into play to aide exploration and reflection. 

Here’s a wee anecdote of that in action…After a particularly wet woodland walk with one group (none of whom had jackets…standard!), we came to a waterfall and asked the kids not only to be silent for a minute to focus on what they can hear, but think about what they would say to nature if they had the opportunity to. Looking a bit damp, they paused…unbroken silence followed, with absolute calm amongst the sounds of the nearby waterfall. “Nature you’re awesome, and I love you” was one highlight of the feedback we received…

“Nature you’re awesome, and I love you”.

I started by mentioning cones and nature, so let me finish on that. At the start of every session, we use an Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale (or INS) to measure how connected children are to nature when they arrive with us. It’s two lines of cones, laid out like the head of an arrow. Over the past few years there’s been a clear trend at the start of sessions, with mixed feelings to nature (at the open end). After the session – that connectedness to nature has invariably improved (at the closer end). 

Why am I finishing on this? Well, let's imagine something together. 

What if every child took that new found sense of connectedness, and just one experience from their TrashMob Academy session, and went on to spread that positivity, that connectedness, and that willingness to care for nature in their place. Well, that would be quite the case of ‘positivity conformity’, wouldn’t it! …and what a difference it could make to the wild places we seek to protect.

You can learn more about the TrashMob Academy and our Education programme here.