November 7, 2024
Five Attainable Steps for Your Outdoor Space
Time outdoors makes children happier, healthier, and equips them with the skills they need for life.
– Outdoor Classroom Day
In today’s message, Jeff Lindstrom, Senior Outdoor Classroom Designer with Nature Explore, describes five things to focus on when designing thoughtful, nature-rich outdoor spaces for learning and play:
Generate community buy-in
- Help everyone feel heard and increase their sense of ownership in the design process
- Mindfully incorporate local skilled labor and professionals
- Set volunteers up for success by choosing doable projects
Be Cost-conscious
- Introduce nature without breaking the bank
- Phase a project to avoid wasteful spending
- Use local and native materials
- Focus on function and play-value
Plan for for the long-term
- Establish a plan for continued and regular staff development / training
- Consider the lifespan of an outdoor classroom and how to keep engagement high
- Establish a maintenance plan
Cultivate a Community of Learners
- Supporting research and anecdotal examples
- Seek out field-tested products and natural materials
- Provide an abundance of evolving/changing/manipulatable elements
- Make outdoor spaces adult-friendly, too (storage, seating, visibility, etc.)
Design Thoughfully
- Consider activities that make ‘good neighbors’ and a gradient of activity
- Incorporate your team’s skillsets into your design and process
- Responding to the site (drainage, wind, sun/shade, etc.)
- Incorporate stories, culture and elements of significance
Today is Outdoor Classroom Day! This is a global movement to make time outdoors part of every child’s day. Learn more, access resources, and share how you are connecting children to nature on your favorite social platforms using #outdoorclassroomday.
Share with the hashtag #ExchangeEveryDay
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