Top tips for outdoor learning
Children’s outdoor learning is just as important as its classroom-based counterpart and should be supported at every opportunity.
Many alternatives present themselves, from teachers using the school grounds, to field trips at nature reserves, beach visits and museum and heritage trips.
Here are some top tips to help you make the most of your outdoor learning experience with your class.
Outdoor Sensory Trays
1. Work in small groups that the children recognise, like the ones they are in for numeracy or literacy. You can then call individual groups to attention if they are going off track, rather than stopping the whole class.
2. Be prepared; familarise yourself with the chosen location and environmental conditions. 3. Set your equipment out in advance or separate it per group and allow the children to carry it to your study site. 4. Move around the groups as they work, keeping them on track and enthusing about their finds.
5. Have a base spot, or muster point. Start at that spot, carry out one or two steps then bring your group back together to explain the next step. You can also use this as an opportunity to swap one set of equipment for the next. 6. Set clearly defined boundaries. If no natural ones exist use football cones to mark out your ‘outdoor classroom’ space.
7. Create a set of outdoor classroom rules, the same as you would for your indoor classrooms. Do this with the pupils before they go outdoors so they know exactly what is expected of them when working outside.
8. Have spare sets of wellington boots and water proofs on standby the same as you do for P.E. kit. These are often willingly donated by parents when their children grow out of them – just pop a request in your newsletter.
9. Communicate with parents in advance. Let them know you will be learning outside so children come with appropriate clothing, or keep outdoor learning clothing and footwear permanently in school.
10. Have back up indoor activities for days when thunder and lightning prevent you going outside. The beauty of using your own site for these activities is that you can postpone an outdoor lesson until the next day.
T: 01279 401550 E:
info@gratnells.co.uk W:
www.gratnells.com Gratnells, 8 Howard Way, Harlow, Essex, CM20 2SU
@gratnells @gratnells /gratnells /gratnells
Check out #WhatsInMyTray
for outdoor tray based activity ideas...
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