I am really pleased to announce that imaginED is collaborating with the Outdoor Classroom Day initiative! Expect to see our imagination-focused outdoor learning activities (like the Walking Curriculum resource) shared on their network and information on the Outdoor Classroom Day initiative shared here. Read on to learn about this great event.
Believe in the power of outdoor learning & play? Get involved in Outdoor Classroom Day!
Think about the last time you saw a child grinning wildly, bursting with excitement and eager to explore. Chances are they were outside in the playground at break time, not sitting in class trying to grasp a new mathematical concept. But what if you could harness the same energy for both? What if that distant concept became a real-life example embodied in a tree, a rock, a pond?
Join the movement today by signing up your class — or whole school — at www.outdoorclassroomday.com.
Outdoor Classroom Day is a global campaign to celebrate and inspire learning and play outside the classroom!
The practice of outdoor learning is not a new one and there is evidence from around the world that shows the powerful impact it has on students and teachers:
- Two in three children globally play outside for less than an hour and a half a day – that’s less than the two hour guideline for maximum security prisoners in the US.*
- Eighty-five per cent of parents believe that their children are more creative when they play without technology.**
- Ninety-two per cent of schools agreed that children engaged more with their learning outdoors.***
- Learning outside the classroom raises educational standards and that it offers for many their first real contact with the natural environment.****
If you who have ever taken learning outside, even just once, you don’t need the statistics. You’ve seen it, felt it, lived it. Back in 2011, Anna Portch felt it too, so strongly that she founded the Outdoor Classroom Day movement to inspire and encourage more schools to give outdoor learning a go. From there, it has grown into an international campaign — in 2017 over two million children across the world got outdoors to play and learn as part of their school day.
If you’re new to outdoor learning and providing enriched playtimes, why not use the day to give it a go? Or if they are part of your normal week, why not use the day to celebrate what you’re doing already and encourage other schools in your area to join in? Whatever you decide to do, get started on your outdoor adventure on Outdoor Classroom Day and prepare to be amazed.
Join the movement today by signing up your class — or whole school — at www.outdoorclassroomday.com.
The global Outdoor Classroom Day is led by Project Dirt, in partnership with Unilever as part of their Dirt is Good movement.
*Source: Edelman Berland for Unilever, 2016.
**Source: Edelman Berland for Unilever, 2016.
****Source:English Outdoor Council’s Lobbying toolkit
