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Nicola from The World is Their Classroom is a home educator to her five children aged 15, 12, 9, 7 and 4. She is passionate about making learning fun and often takes her lessons outside, capturing the importance of learning outdoors. You can find ideas for educational products and activities on The World Is Their Classroom, a website bursting with creative and engaging ideas for children of all ages.
In celebration of Walk inthe Woods Month, Nicola has written a post about the importance of learningoutdoors and what the benefits are.
We love taking ourclassroom outdoors all year round, but throughout the month of May we aretaking part in Walk in the Woods Month by heading out into our local woods tosee nature spring back to life and to celebrate our local trees. There are somany benefits of learning out in the fresh air, from developing children'scommunication skills to nurturing their creativity as they ramble throughfields of bluebells and listen to bird song.
Today we ventured into thewoods to discover what wildlife is lurking under the ponds and streams usingour GeoSafari® SeaScope®. The kiddies thencollected what they found by popping the creatures carefully into their GeoSafari® Jr. Critter Habitat to observe them moreclosely. They also trundled along with their 5-in-1 Outdoor Measure-Mate™, this tool is perfect formeasuring on the go!
Taking children outsideinto the fresh air encourages physical activity. My kiddies certainly get moreexercise when they are measuring the perimeter of large grassy fields with the Measure-Mate.This robust learning tool can easily cope with the different terrain in thewoods, so the kiddies can measure as they amble their way across rocky patchestoo. As soon as we were over the gate and into the woods, they were off! Theyran along collecting twigs to make dens, identified leaves and spotted thelocal deer bobbing around in the bushes. With the Measure-Mate they could easily changeit into a vertical measure, callipers, spirit level or measuring stick, theythen measured the leaves and pine cones they found and recorded the figures intheir notebooks.
Outdoor learningencourages better behaviour! My kiddies always seem more well behaved when theyare exploring outdoors. They no longer feel the need to annoy each other, buthelp and encourage each other to explore paths and streams. Today they workedtogether to observe all the black, wriggly tadpoles in the ponds. Theycarefully submerged their GeoSafari® SeaScope® into the water andswitched on the built in LED light to illuminate what was lurking beneath. Theywere amazed to see the pond full of tadpoles as they zoomed in on large groupsof these little creatures. They were also able to discover more about them byscooping them up carefully with their GeoSafari® Jr. Critter Habitat, which supports both wetand dry habitats, and then using the magnifying windows to peer through at themas they made sketches.
Each time we visit thewoods the kiddies have a better understanding and attitude towards theenvironment and learn how it is important to conserve our local area. Theyenjoy planning litter picks, help clear the streams and have made wooden duck hutsfor the winter, which were put in our local park.
They also speak to eachother in a more positive way when we are outdoors, developing theircommunication skills. They discuss topics that interest them and always asklots of questions about their surroundings. The older ones listen to theyounger ones chatter away about birds and beetles! GeoSafari® Jr. Critter Habitat has given them theopportunity to collect leaves, bugs, fish and tadpoles and observe them ingreater detail, asking lots more questions.
When the kiddies areoutdoors, they feel free to explore! They can make all the mess they want, pickup leaves and bugs and build the wildest den they can imagine. They can createtheir own role plays with natural things they discover around them nurturingcreativity and imagination.
Taking your classroomoutdoors sparks their imagination and makes their learning that bit moreexciting and engaging. We believe learning doesn't necessarily have to be satat a table with pen and paper, some children really thrive from practicallearning instead of just reading books. Today the kiddies had the opportunityto discover lots of new insects, tadpoles and fish whilst exploring the pond!The little ones enjoyed picking different leaves and climbing over a fallentree. They enjoyed using the Measure-Mate in order to measure theinternal and external dimensions of lots of different objects they discoveredas they ambled along.
Being outdoors fuelsimaginations! They ask questions and want to learn more about certain topics.Once we returned home, they found reference books on the insects they havediscovered, drew pictures and kept nature journals. This is a great way toencourage self-study and further their knowledge of what they havediscovered.
Obviously, it doesn't costa thing to venture outdoors and you can use any of the free natural materialsyou come across, which is another great bonus to taking your learning outdoors.There are endless opportunities and resources in your local woods from makingleaf/bark rubbings to going on scavenger hunts. Learning Resources have lots of great outdoor learning tools to take along on youroutdoor learning adventures.
When taking your classroomoutdoors it also provides children with new learning opportunities and lifeskills. You can plan a den building session or a bug hunt but you'll find theylearn so much more, in a way that suits them!
Finally, my favouritething about taking the kiddies out and about is creating memories. Memories ofchildhood last a lifetime and the kiddies will hopefully pass the knowledge andskills they learn to their children in the future. We take plenty of photos andupload them onto our private family blog as well as sharing a few favourites onInstagram here.
So why not take yourlearning outdoors and into the woods this month, allowing the kiddies toexplore the world around them!
Written by Nicola Braund
Nicola from The World is Their Classroom is a home educator to her five children aged 15, 12, 9, 7 and 4. She is passionate about making learning fun and often takes her lessons outside, capturing the importance of learning outdoors. You can find ideas for educational products and activities on The World Is Their Classroom, a website bursting with creative and engaging ideas for children of all ages.
In celebration of Walk inthe Woods Month, Nicola has written a post about the importance of learningoutdoors and what the benefits are.
We love taking ourclassroom outdoors all year round, but throughout the month of May we aretaking part in Walk in the Woods Month by heading out into our local woods tosee nature spring back to life and to celebrate our local trees. There are somany benefits of learning out in the fresh air, from developing children'scommunication skills to nurturing their creativity as they ramble throughfields of bluebells and listen to bird song.
Today we ventured into thewoods to discover what wildlife is lurking under the ponds and streams usingour GeoSafari® SeaScope®. The kiddies thencollected what they found by popping the creatures carefully into their GeoSafari® Jr. Critter Habitat to observe them moreclosely. They also trundled along with their 5-in-1 Outdoor Measure-Mate™, this tool is perfect formeasuring on the go!
Taking children outsideinto the fresh air encourages physical activity. My kiddies certainly get moreexercise when they are measuring the perimeter of large grassy fields with the Measure-Mate.This robust learning tool can easily cope with the different terrain in thewoods, so the kiddies can measure as they amble their way across rocky patchestoo. As soon as we were over the gate and into the woods, they were off! Theyran along collecting twigs to make dens, identified leaves and spotted thelocal deer bobbing around in the bushes. With the Measure-Mate they could easily changeit into a vertical measure, callipers, spirit level or measuring stick, theythen measured the leaves and pine cones they found and recorded the figures intheir notebooks.
Outdoor learningencourages better behaviour! My kiddies always seem more well behaved when theyare exploring outdoors. They no longer feel the need to annoy each other, buthelp and encourage each other to explore paths and streams. Today they workedtogether to observe all the black, wriggly tadpoles in the ponds. Theycarefully submerged their GeoSafari® SeaScope® into the water andswitched on the built in LED light to illuminate what was lurking beneath. Theywere amazed to see the pond full of tadpoles as they zoomed in on large groupsof these little creatures. They were also able to discover more about them byscooping them up carefully with their GeoSafari® Jr. Critter Habitat, which supports both wetand dry habitats, and then using the magnifying windows to peer through at themas they made sketches.
Each time we visit thewoods the kiddies have a better understanding and attitude towards theenvironment and learn how it is important to conserve our local area. Theyenjoy planning litter picks, help clear the streams and have made wooden duck hutsfor the winter, which were put in our local park.
They also speak to eachother in a more positive way when we are outdoors, developing theircommunication skills. They discuss topics that interest them and always asklots of questions about their surroundings. The older ones listen to theyounger ones chatter away about birds and beetles! GeoSafari® Jr. Critter Habitat has given them theopportunity to collect leaves, bugs, fish and tadpoles and observe them ingreater detail, asking lots more questions.
When the kiddies areoutdoors, they feel free to explore! They can make all the mess they want, pickup leaves and bugs and build the wildest den they can imagine. They can createtheir own role plays with natural things they discover around them nurturingcreativity and imagination.
Taking your classroomoutdoors sparks their imagination and makes their learning that bit moreexciting and engaging. We believe learning doesn't necessarily have to be satat a table with pen and paper, some children really thrive from practicallearning instead of just reading books. Today the kiddies had the opportunityto discover lots of new insects, tadpoles and fish whilst exploring the pond!The little ones enjoyed picking different leaves and climbing over a fallentree. They enjoyed using the Measure-Mate in order to measure theinternal and external dimensions of lots of different objects they discoveredas they ambled along.
Being outdoors fuelsimaginations! They ask questions and want to learn more about certain topics.Once we returned home, they found reference books on the insects they havediscovered, drew pictures and kept nature journals. This is a great way toencourage self-study and further their knowledge of what they havediscovered.
Obviously, it doesn't costa thing to venture outdoors and you can use any of the free natural materialsyou come across, which is another great bonus to taking your learning outdoors.There are endless opportunities and resources in your local woods from makingleaf/bark rubbings to going on scavenger hunts. Learning Resources have lots of great outdoor learning tools to take along on youroutdoor learning adventures.
When taking your classroomoutdoors it also provides children with new learning opportunities and lifeskills. You can plan a den building session or a bug hunt but you'll find theylearn so much more, in a way that suits them!
Finally, my favouritething about taking the kiddies out and about is creating memories. Memories ofchildhood last a lifetime and the kiddies will hopefully pass the knowledge andskills they learn to their children in the future. We take plenty of photos andupload them onto our private family blog as well as sharing a few favourites onInstagram here.
So why not take yourlearning outdoors and into the woods this month, allowing the kiddies toexplore the world around them!
Written by Nicola Braund
