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Omaha, Nebraska - Nebraska Methodist College (NMC) occupational therapy students recently led Plattsmouth Elementary School students in activities to prevent nature deficiency and provide opportunities for outdoor play.
The Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) students worked with about 450 students Sept. 15 and 16.
“Kids spend more time inside and on screens, and there is a higher prevalence of ADHD and executive function issues. Kids also don’t always know what to do in an outdoor environment,” said Melissa Kimmerling, director of the occupational therapy program.
Working with NMC’s occupational therapy students allowed the elementary school students to explore ways to engage with the outdoors. According to Kimmerling, the therapeutic benefits of nature-based activities include improving motor development, attention span, social skills, emotional stability and ability to play creatively.
“This project allowed us to meet the College’s mission of positively impacting the health and well-being of the community by having our occupational therapy students address nature deficit disorders for youth,” said Heather Henrichs, professor of arts and sciences. “Even aside from the great engaging activities of the day, this is a moment that role models to children that they too could become a college-bound student, maybe even a future occupational therapist.”
Second-year students in the MOT program planned and led nature-based activities as part of their community-based practice class, focusing on social determinants of health and promoting wellness in communities.
“Through this community-based fieldwork experience, the occupational therapy students were able to design and execute an intervention that they felt would improve the students' understanding and skills in their natural environment,” said Hannah Wieger, academic fieldwork coordinator. “The MOT students developed confidence in their ability to provide community-based treatments. This was their first opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge from the classroom to a patient population, and will help motivate them to continue pursuing and excelling in their graduate studies.”
The Plattsmouth students participated in activities at the school’s outdoor classroom focused on safe and purposeful physical activity, outdoor safety, and meaningful arts and crafts.
The activities, which included painting terracotta pots, creating art with found objects and engaging in guided physical activities, promoted social and emotional learning for the kindergarten through fourth-graders.
“The Plattsmouth Community Schools district is a Title I school district,” Henrichs said. “This means that opportunities for expanded learning has to be done with the intentionality to serve as these are youth with limited resources available to them for experiential learning.”
The elementary students were also given age-appropriate hand-outs that provided information on what they learned during the activities.
“The outdoor classroom experience provided our students an opportunity to further gain knowledge and awareness through a variety of extension activities provided by the Nebraska Methodist College students,” said Dr. Amber Johnson, Plattsmouth Elementary School principal. “Our students expressed their enthusiasm throughout the school day, and they certainly appreciated the take-home bags. It is opportunities such as this, which allow for extended learning and partnership outside the classroom setting.”
The project allowed MOT students to learn how to adapt activities for each kid’s ability.
“Working with the kids in Plattsmouth was so eye-opening. Kids are at so many different levels and each student had their own unique strengths and weaknesses,” said Andrea Zyla, an MOT student. “We had to think on our feet on how to adapt for different students, which will be very helpful when we start our future occupational therapy jobs.”
The MOT program was awarded a grant from the Plattsmouth Community Foundation for the project.