The Outdoor Classroom Day team recently got together in the UK with key figures from the outdoor learning and play movement, to discuss how we can make sure children around the world have more outdoor adventures — on Outdoor Classroom Day and all year round!

What better setting for this than a school that is already making sure outdoor learning and play are key parts of their school day! The group, ranging from marketers and campaigners, to experts on play, outdoor learning and the environment, gathered at Rhyl Primary School, London, on a cold morning in January. The school’s outdoor leader, Thomas Moggach, took us to see some outdoor learning in action. Weather is often blamed for keeping kids indoors, but the chilly air didn’t stop students here spending a wonderful lesson in their outdoor classroom. We think their smiling faces and enquiring looks say it all!

Back inside, Natural England’s Jim Burt led a discussion around the inspirational findings of the organisation’s Natural Connections Demonstration Project, published last year. Here are some of the things we explored:

• You don’t need to high-quality habitats for outdoor learning to occur — variety and the individual requirements of each school are much more important.
• Schools can be wonderful advocates for making more of time and space outdoors. One school instigated the revival of their local agricultural show!
• Parents are particularly interested in their child’s outdoor learning experiences. In some cases, outdoor destinations visited by schools in the week, such as city farms, had more family visits on weekends.

 

These are some of the key findings from the Natural Demonstration Project:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? Are lessons outdoors more fun? More memorable?

Wherever you are in the world, we’d love to hear from you!

Join in the conversation on social media using #OutdoorClassroomDay.