Outdoor Classrooms

Outdoor space at your school for students to learn and engage with nature can improve the social, cognitive, and physiological health of both students and educators.

“Living school grounds are richly layered outdoor environments that strengthen local ecological systems while providing place-based, hands-on learning resources for children and youth of all ages.”
Green Schoolyards America

What are Outdoor Classrooms?

The idea for an Outdoor Classroom originated well over 100 years ago during the tuberculosis pandemic. Doctors in Rhode Island wanted to create a safe space for students to learn without the risk of viral spread. In recent years, COVID has reminded us that air quality and ventilation are critical for sustainable and healthy schools, and schools are finding new interest in using Outdoor Classrooms as a healthy space to learn.

Outdoor classrooms are environmental spaces that combine academic lessons with hands-on experiences in nature. Outdoor Classrooms can take many forms: from a well-developed structure to even a few stumps in a garden. Ultimately, the goal is to immerse students in a setting where their learning has meaning and they can see the impacts of their actions.

“In concert with modern child development research findings, the concept of the Outdoor Classroom is built upon the premise that children are complex beings.”

– The Outdoor Classroom Project

What are the Benefits of Outdoor Classrooms?

Outdoor Classrooms provide academic, physiological, mental, ecological, and emotional benefits to students, teachers, and the environment.

Physiologically, it is no surprise that spending more time in nature boosts physical activity and improves students’ health resiliency and encourages students to pursue more moderate-vigorous activity outside of school. With this increase in activity, students have improved motor skills, bone development, fitness, and brain development. Instilling a pattern of activity at a young age also encourages activity later in adulthood. With regular exposure to sunlight, students learning outside receive more Vitamin D. Surrounded by plants, students breathe healthier air and have reductions in respiratory diseases like asthma.

Mentally, outdoor learning provides many benefits to students through improvements in focus, memory, attention, and concentration. Nature lends itself to the development of white and gray matter in the brain, increasing cognitive function.

Research has shown that students pay better attention in Outdoor Classrooms. In one study, the researchers split third graders into biology lessons taught outdoors and indoors and counted the number of times that teachers had to redirect the students’ attention back to the lesson. Results showed that redirections occurred half as often when teaching outdoors, a significant improvement.

Outdoor Classrooms further support the enhanced development of the students’ social-emotional well-being. Synergetic to the space where they are learning, students use Outdoor Classrooms to grow interpersonal and team-building skills. Between the hands-on nature of the space and the problem-solving involved with outdoor lessons, Outdoor Classrooms support independent learning and creativity.

Immersion in nature also encourages students to take care of the space in which they learn. A garden, for example, must be maintained in order for it to keep its educational (and environmental) value.

How Can You Create an Outdoor Classroom?

Outdoor classrooms can take many forms depending on need and capacity, but they typically follow a set of principles that every school can follow.

Finding A Place

Considerations for locating should include the accessibility of the terrain for all students; how much greenery already exists in the space; and the potential to add greenery.

Creating A Boundary

Apart from keeping students safe, boundaries ensure that Outdoor Classrooms are recognized classrooms and that there is a level of responsibility that comes with learning outside.

Designating Certain Spaces

Just like in a typical indoor classroom where students know where to sit, walk, and engage with the room, Outdoor Classrooms should have similar landmarks. While Outdoor Classrooms encourage independence among students, there should be designated areas where teachers organize students, give assignments, and reconvene at the end of the lesson.

Teaching Non-STEM Subjects Outdoors

Can non-STEM subjects be taught in Outdoor Classrooms? YES! One of the coolest parts about Outdoor Classrooms is that they help show the interconnectedness of many subjects. While teaching Biology and Ecology is quite easy when you can show students real examples of adaptation, photosynthesis, and symbiosis, it is surprising how well other curriculum fits as well.

In Nebraska, the state government’s Project WILD developed Outdoor Classroom activities for students in each grade K-5 for science, math, language arts, and social studies. Here are a few examples:

1st Grade Science – Look for animal habitats, talk about how animals behave and why they live where they live
2nd Grade Math – Collect and analyze data about air temperature and precipitation levels
3rd Grade Language Arts – Create a brochure about the Outdoor Classroom that describes the types of life that exist and different things that can be done in the classroom
4th Grade Social Studies – Try to find elements of your Outdoor Classroom that are related to your state’s bird, flower, insect, tree, mammal, grass, etc.

Creating Outdoor Classrooms in Urban Spaces

Urban schools may find it difficult to provide access to sufficient outdoor space for students. In these cases, identify what types of green spaces or resources exist nearby, within walking distance. This encourages exploration, physical activity, and teamwork. Further, teachers can identify activities that can be done outside. For example, many high school physics activities can be moved outside, where there is more space for experiments and data collection. Finally, if the school is surrounded by concrete structures and asphalt (such as parking lots), consider creating a green team or advocating for the repurposing of the space for an Outdoor Classroom.

Creating Outdoor Classrooms that are Prepared for Winter

The CEO of Green Schoolyards America, Sharon Danks, offers creative solutions for ensuring Outdoor Classrooms are safe, functional places for students, even during the winter.

Other Things to Keep in Mind

As you prepare your Outdoor Classroom and outdoor learning opportunities, here are some additional things to keep in mind:

In all cases, but especially in urban settings, schools should consider local outdoor air quality and avoid being outside if air quality is poor.
Schools should develop strategies and policies for extreme weather that determine when students should be kept indoors. Students should be encouraged to dress for the weather and wear sunscreen if there will be added sun exposure.
Schools should align their outdoor learning with school safety plans, ensuring that all children are kept safe. This includes policies and permissions involved with walking to nearby green spaces if outdoor learning is happening off-campus.

Local, National & International Examples

Local – Shady Side Academy

The SSA Country Day School embraces every inch of its 17-acre campus. Built structures include a treehouse classroom, student garden, and observation deck, while curriculum and activities utilize the outdoor space of their school.

National – The Park Day School in Oakland, California

This four-acre campus school is described as an “urban oasis”. Nearly every student spends between 50-100% of their time in an outdoor learning environment. Whiteboards, desks, and materials are brought outside, with a campus that includes greenified space with gardens and flora.

International – Fuji Kindergarten in Tokyo, Japan

A school built on the principles of sustainability and kid-friendly design, Fuji Kindergarten has wall-less classrooms and ample sunlight. As a place for kindergartners, it has a lot of room for movement and independence, something that the architect believed was critical for early childhood development.