As the weather gets warmer, it gets harder to keep students indoors.
Whether it is the end of the year or summer school, these outdoor classroom activities are sure to keep the learning fun and engaging!
1. Spring Scavenger Hunt
Let your students scavenge outdoors, seeing who can check off every item on the hunt first. A good competition always makes an activity more engaging!
2. Rainbow Scavenger Hunt
This one is not only fun, but it is as simple as it sounds! Challenge students to find items outdoors that are each color of the rainbow. After finding the items, come together as a class to reveal the items and discuss them.
3. Nature Journal (or draw)
Take in the outdoors. What do you smell, hear, or feel? Give students space and time to write (or draw) what they notice. When time is up, let your students share their work, honing their writing and speaking skills.
4. Chalk Problems
This one is really quite ingenious. Take your worksheet problems to the pavement, and solve them with chalk!
5. Could Shapes
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An original, but a goody: take students outside to observe cloud shapes. Use these as inspiration to draw or write.
6. Rock Paint
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Taking supplies outdoors, let students find rocks to paint. Hide them around the playground/school to send positive messages or bring smiles to faces by brightening up the outdoors!
7. Outdoor Theater
Take reading outdoors and bring it to life with plays! Students can even decorate a stage area and make costumes, practice, and put on a final performance.
8. Nature Reading
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What’s better than reading? Reading outdoors. Find a spot to read and enjoy reading independently or as a class while enjoying nature.
9. “I, Spy” Classroom Edition
Focus on a topic, and have students spy things related to that content—colors, letters, things related to stories being read, etc. Make it even more exciting and involved by letting kids create their own binoculars!
10. Outdoor Classroom
Invite your students outdoors, sit in a circle, and learn! Take whatever you were planning to do indoors, outdoors. Students will appreciate the change of scenery, and fresh air and Vitamin D never hurts!
11. DIY Bubbles
Make your own bubbles, and get outside to blow them! Science + outdoors = win!
12. DIY Bird Feeders
Build bird feeders outdoors. Make them simple using toilet paper rolls, peanut butter, and seed, or have the students design their own. Gather the supplies and let them get to work brining their designs to life. Whichever way you build, doing it outdoors keeps the mess outdoors, and you don’t need to clean it up because nature will enjoy the extra treats!
13. Kite Engineering
Make a kite, and get outdoors to test it! Let students work through the scientific process and the design process. Give them the autonomy, independence, and confidence to design their own working kite through trial-and-error. It’s a great learning experience and so much fun!
14. Nature Artwork
Remember crayon rubbings? Bring them back by showing your students how to make a crayon rubbing, and using these to create a unique art project. Or, challenge students to create artwork using only leaves and glue.
15. Leaf Paintbrushes
Make paintbrushes from leaves, and allow students to create their own artwork with them!
