Planning School Grounds for Outdoor Learning.

Almost every K–12 school has at least some outdoor space that faculty could use (or already do) to breathe life into concepts learned in the classroom. Even within tight urban settings, many schools have had success using rooftops to install safe and secure play and garden areas. Research shows that students better absorb and retain math, science, language arts, and other skills that incorporate their immediate environment and use all five senses (Lieberman and Hoody 1998). A more recent study has linked outdoor play to stronger social skills and increased creative development (Miller, Tichota, and White 2009). These positive educational impacts are especially strong when outdoor activities are an integral part of the structured curriculum (Learning through Landscapes 2008). Once we accept that education naturally occurs both indoors and out, the term "outdoor learning" will begin to seem as strange as the neverused "indoor learning."