Nature visits and nature exposure have been shown to be favorably associated with children’s health and development, but the research regarding their associations with children’s lifestyle habits is limited. The current study aimed to investigate the associations between the frequency of parent–child nature visits and sleep, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and weight status among three- to six-year-old Finnish preschoolers. Parents and their children (n = 864) participated in a cross-sectional DAGIS (increased health and wellbeing in preschools) study, which was conducted between 2015 and 2016 in Finland. In total, 798 parents answered a questionnaire on the frequency of parent–child nature visits, which also included questions on sociodemographic factors and their children’s sleep habits. Parents also reported children’s bedtimes and wake-up times and children wore an accelerometer for seven days. Trained researchers measured children’s weight and height. Linear and logistic regression analyses were conducted. More frequent parent–child nature visits were associated with children’s longer sleep duration at night, higher amounts of MVPA outside preschool time and, among girls, good sleep consistency. The frequency of parent–child nature visits was not significantly associated with whether children were overweight or obese or not. Promoting parent–child nature visits could be a cost-effective way to increase young children’s MVPA and enhance night-time sleep.

The connection that children have with nature appears to be weakening, which is a concern because nature connection is associated with children's environmentally friendly behavior as well as with their health and well-being. However, the relationship between family nature visits and young children's connection to nature is a fairly unexplored topic. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between the frequency of adult–child nature visits and 2- to 7-year-old children's nature connectedness (NC) using cross-sectional survey data from the Finnish project titled Naturkraft (Empowered by nature). We also examined whether socioeconomic and sociodemographic factors moderated the associations. The questionnaire respondents were parents, mainly mothers, (n = 1463) of children aged 2–7 years. Multinomial logistic regression analyses and moderator analyses were conducted. The results based on the parent-reported questionnaire revealed that when children visited nature with an adult in the family once a week or more, their overall NC was greater, they more likely derived greater enjoyment from nature and displayed stronger sense of responsibility toward nature than children who had a lower frequency of adult–child nature visits. Some of the associations were moderated by child's gender and the region of residence. The results highlight the importance of frequent family nature visits during early childhood, as this can contribute to raising environmentally responsible children who enjoy and value nature.