Tips for Teaching Outdoors
Image by USFWS Mountain-Prairie
The percentage of children that get to experience meaningful interaction with the natural environment is shrinking. A statement reinforced in a paper published by the King’s College London, which states that at present only 10% of children play in a natural environment, in comparison to 40% of adults who played outside when they were the same age.
A major contributing factor is technology. At home, children have easy access to TV’s, computer games and social media. All of which compete against the great outdoors as sources for inspiration and personal engagement, and in the majority of cases the computers are winning.
This means that it is becoming increasingly up to schools to provide outdoor activities for kids. However, with schools also having access to a proliferation of technology such as smartboards and computers, as well as becoming increasingly concerned about the restrictions of health and safety, in many cases they are struggling to fulfil this responsibility.
This is a worrying trend, as interacting with the outdoor environment can be vitally important for allowing children to develop a better understanding of the world around them, as well as having profound educational and social benefits.
Why teach outside
- Can make teaching more engaging – by breaking up routine and adding difference to the school day, many children will feel more involved and invested in activities.
- Encourages imagination and creativity – by taking kids out of the classroom you will allow them to explore and open up their imagination.
- Brings relevancy to teaching – allows teachers to provide examples which illustrate real world context to concepts taught within the classroom.
Example activities
The number of possible outdoor activities that a teacher can use to encourage and engage children is practically infinite. But to help provide a little inspiration, here are a few suggestions, based on the core subjects of Maths, English and Science.
Maths
- Discover natural objects and use them to discuss and examine ideas around symmetry
- Think about scale and geometry by making shapes such as squares and triangles out of sticks
- Looking at the different examples of angles in nature.
Science
- Exploring your school and surrounding area to find and then discuss habitats
- Develop research and report around littering and recycling based in and around the school, discussing the impact of littering and the importance of recycling
- Build a weather station and then monitor and record the results looking for patterns
English
- Encourage children to expand their vocabulary by exploring and interacting with a natural environment, encouraging them to ask questions all the while.
- You could get children to write either a diary entry or a story about an outdoor excursion, encouraging their creative thinking in the process
Handy tips for any activity
- Laminating work sheets is a very good idea and can help them stay dry and muck free in outdoor conditions
- If it’s a hot day take consideration for the sun and it’s harmful UV rays; pack spare water supplies, sun hats and sun cream to help keep the children safe
- Ask parents to supply children with clothes they don’t mind getting dirty, as this will minimise the occurrence of any nasty, laundry surprises for them
- Break up large amounts of children into smaller more manageable groups; this will make them a lot easier to manage.
- Provide a reward for children who participate and behave sensibly while you are outdoors, this will give them incentive to behave that way in the future.
The health and safety myth
In a large number of cases, schools are marginalising outdoor education because of an over focus on health and safety. Because of the commonly held perception that there is too much paperwork to fill out before children are allowed on a trip, and the fact that the school itself will be culpable if there is an accident, many schools feel there is too much risk involved in organising outdoor activities.
However, the viewing of such a perception as correct is somewhat of a myth, one that the government are doing their level best to dispel. Something made clear in a policy statement released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the non-departmental public body charged with regulating health and safety in the workplace.
In short, the policy stipulates that the paperwork needed for each excursion should be minimised and simplified, and that fears surrounding the possibility of an accident shouldn’t be a barrier to the planning of school excursions.
If you have any advice for organising outdoor activities for children, please share in the comments section.