Moving Outdoors: Creating an Outdoor Classroom for Learning & Play

While most programs have time outside included in their curriculum, building an outdoor classroom goes one step further by prioritizing time spent outside. Curriculum and classroom materials typically worked on indoors are taken outside to be enjoyed in nature. 

In this article, we share some of the developmental and learning benefits of outdoor play.  We also share ideas for taking advantage of favorable weather to move more learning outside.

Developmental Benefits

Moving outdoors expands the range of play and learning activities for young children, which offers many developmental benefits for little learners.

For example…

Researchers have found that when children learn outdoors, they engage in more creative play, stay healthier, and master skills in self-discipline, decision-making, and problem-solving.

An outdoor space with room to run and jump offers a unique opportunity for little ones to engage in activities that exercise their gross motor muscles. Recent research points to a connection between gross motor activity and early cognitive development.

Exploring and enjoying the outdoors allows children to explore and follow their curiosity about nature, which can become the foundation for strong environmental attitudes and civic behaviors as they get older.   

Learning from The Forest School Approach

While outdoor classrooms are new to many early learning professionals, some programs practice their entire curriculum outside. These outdoor programs can be a source of inspiration and ideas for programs interested in moving more learning outdoors. One of the most popular curriculum models is called the forest school approach. 

Some forest school core principles can be easily borrowed and tailored to your program’s outdoor learning goals, including…

• Play-based, child-directed learning: Children learn as they play! Rather than teachers planning lessons for the day, children take the lead and engage in free-play. Teachers and caregivers support children’s natural interests by following their lead and working alongside the children to support their learning. 
• Hands-on interactions with the environment: Children enjoy interacting with nature! From playing in the mud, to building with sticks, teachers and caregivers encourage children’s opportunities to work with natural materials and connect with the environment. 
• Emphasis on community and collaboration: By playing together, children learn to problem-solve, communicate, share ideas, and learn from each other. Forest schools are inclusive and welcoming to the diverse interests, needs, and backgrounds of their community members. 

Learning & Play

Creating an outdoor classroom might sound like a big task, but there are ways that you can conveniently shift parts of your day outside.

Circle Time & Story Time

If you typically do circle time indoors, you might consider shifting it outside. All you will need to bring outside are items (such as a large tarp, towels, blankets, etc.) to form a circle for children to sit in, and a few books that work well for reading aloud. Doing this activity outside will also allow children to spread out more than they would be able to indoors. 

Children’s favorite books and stories can easily be brought outdoors for individual enjoyment. You might select a few books from your library to bring outside, or you can bring a few new books outside every morning and return them to the classroom at night.

Natural Materials

One of the best parts about being outdoors is that nature offers so many great materials for children to work with. From flowers and leaves to sticks and rocks, children will often find plenty of items outside that create opportunities for play.

Larger items like tree stumps can invite children to engage in play that encourages gross motor skill development, such as practicing balance and jumping.

Manipulatives

Do you have a big box of legos, magnatiles, or other manipulatives in your classroom? These can also easily be brought outdoors. You might lay out a big blanket for children to sit on while they work with them, or spread them out onto a table. If you are doing individual bags of materials to avoid spreading germs, these bags can also be brought outside!

Art Projects

To encourage creative expression in the outdoors, bring markers, crayons, pencils, and paper outside.  For a fun prompt, you might set out a variety of flowers and leaves and encourage children to draw the items that they see. 

For more ideas, you might enjoy these Good2Know articles:

5 Simple Ways to Invite Natural Materials & Wildlife into ECE Outdoor Spaces

Supporting Infant & Toddler Development through Outdoor Play

Fall Fun! Art Activities using Leaves and Other Natural Materials

Quick Tips

• Go shoe-free! If your outdoor area is safe and if children are interested, encourage them to take off their shoes and enjoy the feeling of the ground beneath their toes. This provides extra sensory stimulation and an additional kind of connection with nature. 
• Set up outdoor storage. From shoes and jackets to muddy clothing, being outdoors can get messy, and children will likely need a place to store their items. You might consider setting up cubbies or hooks with children’s names by the door so that they have designated places to keep their items, to avoid things getting lost.
• Make sure children have water available.  Hot weather during the warm weather months makes it particularly important for children to stay hydrated. Make sure that you have plenty of water that children can access outside, without having to go back into the classroom each time they need a drink. This might mean having individual water bottles handy, or setting up a system set up where children can fill up disposable cups when needed.

Additional Resources

Free Forest School brings nature-based learning opportunities to children by empowering parents and caregivers, and by supporting teachers who want to incorporate outdoor learning. Their blog includes a variety of articles and resources about outdoor learning, child development, and activity ideas. 

Tinkergarten brings families together in nature for classes where children learn through play. The classes and activities are designed to help children develop life skills while enjoying healthy, fun, engaging experiences in local green spaces. Tinkergarten’s website shares a variety of outdoor activity ideas, broken down by age group and developmental skill. 

Rocking and Rolling. Fresh Air, Fun, and Exploration: Why Outdoor Play Is Essential for Healthy Development is an article from NAEYC that describes the many benefits of outdoor learning and play. The article also includes guiding questions for reflective practice to help educators brainstorm and plan ways to make outdoor learning work in their classroom or program.