Key points:
Spending time outdoors and engaging in active play has all kinds of benefits for young children. It encourages the development of gross motor skills, helps improve coordination and balance, and may help reduce childhood obesity. Time outdoors provides the opportunity to absorb sunlight and vitamin D, and boosts the immune system by exposing children to allergens.
Outdoor activity even helps prevent nearsightedness by giving children distant views to focus on. It allows students to use all their senses, encourages creativity and concentration, and develops social and emotional skills as learning occurs in new and engaging ways. Additionally, when children go outside, it can help them understand how to care for the environment and learn not to be afraid of nature. To help you foster these many positive outcomes and make the most of time outdoors with your students, here are seven principles of outdoor learning.
1. The outdoor area is a primary learning environment.
- Do you have a cart to transport materials or could students help transport materials outdoors?
- Do you have a place outside to store your gear once you're done or do you need to bring it back inside?
- Do you need to put carpet squares, floor cushions, or a blanket outside to sit on?
- Will the kids do any drawing or writing that requires taking some clipboards outside?
The first principle of outdoor learning is that the outdoors can be just as effective a learning environment as an indoor classroom. Outdoor learning will be different to indoor learning and not everyone will do it the same way, but almost everything that can be learned indoors can be learned outside.
Think about the centers you have right now in your classroom, for example. How many of them can be replicated abroad? Setting up a mud kitchen can serve as a center for dramatic play. A picnic table or outdoor easel would make a great art centerpiece. A reading area could be as simple as a basket of books on a blanket with a couple of pillows. I even saw one child development center collect old milk crates to use with a collection of weatherproof blocks for a variety of stacking and building options in their outdoor block area.
2. Children should take the initiative in their own learning.
On a day-to-day basis, parents typically choose their children's clothes, select what they will eat, and choose when they go to sleep. Young children can often feel like they can't make many decisions in their own lives. Therefore, when teachers give students choices about what activity they will do, who they will play with, and what materials they will use, they will have more interest and intrinsic motivation to learn.
Going outdoors is a natural time for children to begin exploring and satisfying their curiosity; In other words, take the initiative in your learning. This supports children's efforts towards independence and makes learning enjoyable and exciting. That said, they still need adults interested in their game and available to support their learning. By observing, listening and asking open-ended questions, teachers support and guide children's learning without taking control. For example, if a child is trying to balance on a rock, the teacher can gently help him, holding his hand as he stabilizes, until he is ready and able to handle it on his own.
3. Educators have prepared a full range of materials and activities.
Outdoor learning areas don't have supply closets like those in your classroom, so when planning an outdoor lesson, consider what materials you'll need and how you'll get them outside. Some logistical issues to consider could be:
4. Activities are intentional and relate to the curriculum.
Outdoor learning is often more structured than recess and often mimics what happens in the classroom. Aligning your time outdoors with your state's learning standards or the curriculum you follow ensures that time spent outdoors helps children reach their learning goals.
This, again, goes back to planning. Look at your learning objectives and ask yourself if you can achieve them with what is available outside. If not, what do you need to bring? Basically, you try to achieve the same goals as in class, but in a different environment and with different materials. It sounds simple, but if it's new to you, it may take some practice and a little change in mindset before you feel comfortable.
5. Students have opportunities for physical activity and movement.
I recently visited a school where the STEAM specialist was outside with a group of four-year-olds. They were flying paper airplanes that they made themselves. As they worked to make their planes fly, the children ran freely around the yard measuring how far they flew and hypothesizing why one plane flew farther than another.
For some teachers, it may have seemed out of control and chaotic, but if you recognize the benefits of the opportunity for physical movement, as well as activity-embedded learning, you can see the impact of moments like these. Additionally, we must remember the importance of pre-planning, setting expectations, and modeling appropriate behaviors for these types of activities to help ensure that learning occurs and that it does not become a pitched battle.
Measuring how far students jump, participating in an outdoor scavenger hunt, or collecting items to create nature collages are ideas for incorporating movement aligned with a variety of learning goals. Kids will be physically active, practicing academic skills, and having fun all at the same time!
6. There is a focus on environmental management to develop a connection with the natural world.
Outdoor learning allows students to develop a connection with the natural world. They are our future business leaders, scientists, and environmentalists, and the time they spend learning outdoors can open the door to asking themselves for the first time: “What happens if we don't take care of our environment? How can we live in harmony with it?
When I was young, the phrase “Give a damn, don't pollute” was a popular slogan in the media. We really take it seriously! Not only did we avoid littering when we were outdoors, but we also made sure to clean up any trash we came across in an effort to keep our world clean. As teachers, we now have the opportunity and responsibility to instill the importance of caring for our environment. A simple but effective activity that I often did with my young students was to become “pollution detectives.” Each student received a small bag and we walked our school grounds looking for trash. Not only were we improving the environment, but while the children ran from one piece of trash to another, they were having fun and engaging in healthy physical activity.
7. Students have opportunities to learn in, about and with nature.
The differences between learning in, about, and with nature are subtle, but it is important to provide students with opportunities to engage in all three. Learning in Nature provides all the benefits of learning outdoors, but it can be as simple as reading a book outdoors. Learning about Nature generally means working toward scientific learning goals, such as understanding the characteristics of natural objects or different habitats. Learning with nature can be a little more complicated. It can begin with a nature experience that piques the student's interest and motivates him or her to take advantage of that learning. Maybe they find an animal track outside that inspires them to reach for a book to look up what kind of animal left it, or maybe they see a pinwheel seed pod from a maple tree and start investigating other plants to see how they distribute the seeds. seeds. Providing all three types of nature activities requires some thought and intentional planning, but it is a wonderful way to ensure that students interact with nature and learn from and about it.
You never know if the next time you take your young students outside will be the time one of them begins to become a botanist or an environmentalist who will work to make our planet a safe and healthy place, all because they were fascinated by fluff. of poplar floating in the air. What you can know for sure is that when you go outside, you will have the opportunity to practice a wide range of learning skills while taking advantage of the many benefits that outdoor learning offers. The outdoors is full of learning moments, so start planning and get out there!
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