Passive and active engagement in nature through outdoor education has clear benefits on student cognition and learning that complements learning indoors. Spending time in nature replenishes voluntary focus and has benefits for attention, motivation, concentration, and working memory.

Outdoor play and outdoor lessons have an impact on subsequent indoor learning: decreasing stress and increasing focus, attention, motivation, and engagement with material. Outdoor learning helps students become better communicators, more engaged learners, and flexible problem solvers. Learning outdoors in turn leads to improved standardized test scores, college entrance exam scores, and class performance across the curriculum.

There is a relationship between learning outdoors, engagement in the process, and decreased inclination to drop out of school. Play is part of learning. And unstructured play in nature settings positively influences cognitive development, including learning, and creativity. Functional, constructive, exploratory, dramatic, creative, and imaginative play is enhanced in the outdoors, compared to traditional play settings. 

Children who spend more time outdoors in nature, particularly at school, learn better. Nature contributes to enhanced development of both gray and white matter in the brain. A direct relationship exists between nature exposure and cognitive skills, working memory, and attention. Direct and indirect nature exposure allows students to recover faster from mentally challenging exercises. Nature decreases heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, resulting in better focus and lesson enjoyment.