OWL babies: The impact of an outdoor learning programme on early brain development and parenting skills

Saliha Çetin Sultanoğlu; Jan Coleman; Donna Colby; Dawn Wilson-Darke; Jill Harrison

doi:10.5281/zenodo.20664874

OWL babies: The impact of an outdoor learning programme on early brain development and parenting skills

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether an interaction-based outdoor programme, OWL (Outdoors Whilst Learning) Babies, may give parents a better understanding of brain development, developmental milestones, building healthy attachment skills, and understanding of synaptic connections and their importance during the early years. Numerous studies support the advantages of the outdoors for young children. But there is little information on how babies experience the natural environment. This study carried out with 14 parents and their babies in a quasi-experimental method, one group pre-test, post-test was used in this study. The intervention period comprised five weeks of OWL Babies Programme in Lewisham (Borough of London) Children's Centres. The participants were measured before and after the programme by a Likert-type questionnaire; they answered the same questions. In addition to this, participants were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. Results indicated that there was an improvement for all 14 subjects in qualitative and quantitative analysis. Conclusively, parents' understanding of baby brain development and how to support babies accordingly improved. OWL Babies Programme found to be effective in learning the importance of early brain development and supporting cognitive development accordingly.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

All required institutional permissions were obtained prior to conducting this study. Informed consent was obtained from all participants before their participation. The study complied with all relevant institutional guidelines and regulations. As the research involved no interventions beyond standard practices and posed no risk to participants, formal approval from an institutional ethics committee was not required.

Thanks

The authors would like to thank all the parents who participated in this study.

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Applied and Developmental Psychology (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Saliha Çetin Sultanoğlu ^*
0000-0003-1374-2399
United Kingdom

Jan Coleman This is me
United Kingdom

Donna Colby This is me
United Kingdom

Dawn Wilson-Darke This is me
United Kingdom

Jill Harrison This is me
United Kingdom

Publication Date

June 11, 2026

Submission Date

January 4, 2026

Acceptance Date

June 9, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Number: 1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20664874

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA73FE34PZ

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Çetin Sultanoğlu, S., Coleman, J., Colby, D., Wilson-Darke, D., & Harrison, J. (2026). OWL babies: The impact of an outdoor learning programme on early brain development and parenting skills. Psychology Research on Education and Social Sciences, 1, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20664874

AMA

1.Çetin Sultanoğlu S, Coleman J, Colby D, Wilson-Darke D, Harrison J. OWL babies: The impact of an outdoor learning programme on early brain development and parenting skills. PRESS. 2026;(1):1-12. doi:10.5281/zenodo.20664874

Chicago

Çetin Sultanoğlu, Saliha, Jan Coleman, Donna Colby, Dawn Wilson-Darke, and Jill Harrison. 2026. “OWL Babies: The Impact of an Outdoor Learning Programme on Early Brain Development and Parenting Skills”. Psychology Research on Education and Social Sciences, no. 1: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20664874.

EndNote

Çetin Sultanoğlu S, Coleman J, Colby D, Wilson-Darke D, Harrison J (June 1, 2026) OWL babies: The impact of an outdoor learning programme on early brain development and parenting skills. Psychology Research on Education and Social Sciences 1 1–12.

IEEE

[1]S. Çetin Sultanoğlu, J. Coleman, D. Colby, D. Wilson-Darke, and J. Harrison, “OWL babies: The impact of an outdoor learning programme on early brain development and parenting skills”, PRESS, no. 1, pp. 1–12, June 2026, doi: 10.5281/zenodo.20664874.

ISNAD

Çetin Sultanoğlu, Saliha - Coleman, Jan - Colby, Donna - Wilson-Darke, Dawn - Harrison, Jill. “OWL Babies: The Impact of an Outdoor Learning Programme on Early Brain Development and Parenting Skills”. Psychology Research on Education and Social Sciences. 1 (June 1, 2026): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20664874.

JAMA

1.Çetin Sultanoğlu S, Coleman J, Colby D, Wilson-Darke D, Harrison J. OWL babies: The impact of an outdoor learning programme on early brain development and parenting skills. PRESS. 2026;:1–12.

MLA

Çetin Sultanoğlu, Saliha, et al. “OWL Babies: The Impact of an Outdoor Learning Programme on Early Brain Development and Parenting Skills”. Psychology Research on Education and Social Sciences, no. 1, June 2026, pp. 1-12, doi:10.5281/zenodo.20664874.

Vancouver

1.Saliha Çetin Sultanoğlu, Jan Coleman, Donna Colby, Dawn Wilson-Darke, Jill Harrison. OWL babies: The impact of an outdoor learning programme on early brain development and parenting skills. PRESS. 2026 Jun. 1;(1):1-12. doi:10.5281/zenodo.20664874