4 Key Steps to linking Environmental Education and Literacy
4 Key Steps to linking Environmental Education and Literacy How can environmental education be linked to or taught through literacy using Garden Signs, Little Free Libraries, and Curriculum-on-the-Go Kits? What is the first thing you see when you walk into an Outdoor Classroom? Is it a Welcome Sign? There is nothing more inviting than a Welcome sign! A Welcome sign is an invitation. A Welcome sign gathers community. Welcome signs come in all shapes and sizes, as do communities. A Welcome sign invites visitors to the outdoor space and leads them into a new space. For learning and teaching,...
Read MoreMore than Mud Pies: Making a Mud Kitchen
More than Mud Pies: Making a Mud Kitchen Mud is a fabulous medium for exploration and discovery for children. The Mud Kitchen invites children to become scientists, cooks, entrepreneurs, and artists. Have you ever thought what would happen if every outdoor classroom included a Mud Kitchen and all parents, families, teachers, and communities embraced and valued Mud as a teaching tool? Children just might navigate their world feeling the freedom to get dirty and explore without hesitation! Do you know: Mud can make you happier: Mud Play connects children to nature and Playing in Mud...
Read MoreElements for The Gardens that Feeds
10 Key Elements for The Garden that Feeds Are you interested in planting an Edible Garden? Do you want to teach children where food comes from while incorporating the process of growing fruits, vegetables, and legumes into your curriculum? Do you get stuck when you think of yourself as a “landscape designer” for an Outdoor Classroom? What if I told you about a garden map that would help you design your own one-of-a-kind Garden that Feeds? What if I introduced a fun way to play with key garden elements, within this type of garden, that allowed you and your children to visualize,...
Read More5 Curiosity Questions about Compost
5 Curiosity Questions about Compost Do you want to try composting with kids, but not sure how to do it? Do you get overwhelmed thinking about starting up a compost bin at your program? Have you tried composting but just ended up with a big random pile? Fear, overwhelm and lack of knowledge can often hold us back from creating a compost pile that offers so many lessons. My own compost story has a checkered past. Over the years, I have tried different composting techniques and always felt like I was never getting it right because I never got to harvesting the “black magic”. I went...
Read MoreThe 2018 Spring/ Summer Outdoor Classrooms Tour
The 2018 Spring/Summer Outdoor Classrooms Tour Thank you for your interest in joining the 2018 Spring/Summer Outdoor Classroom Tour. My mission for the next couple of months is to learn more about Outdoor Classrooms through your stories. I am on a mission to collect as many garden stories as I can and plan to do this both in-person and virtually. Do you have an outdoor space that you would like to showcase? If so, please read on for more details. WHO: I am looking for Natural Teachers from all over the world who are invested in teaching outdoors. I am looking for pre-school programs,...
Read More10 Ideas to Get Your Outdoor Classroom Ready for Spring
10 Ideas to Get Your Outdoor Classroom Ready for Spring It has been a long winter here in Massachusetts. It’s been so long, that it’s already April and I’m just getting outdoors to see the damage in our gardens from all the storms we had. It can be daunting to walk about your Outdoor Classroom and write a checklist of “to do’s”. I did this today and boy oh boy my “to do” list is long. To deal with my overwhelm, I put together 10 ideas to jump-start and get ready for Spring. I am now tickled with possibilities for my Outdoor Classrooms Learning...
Read MoreOn My Nightstand
