Hellobee

I spoke a lot about why we love learning in the outdoors here, and I wanted to share a few tips on how you can create a welcoming outdoor learning space for your children at home (even if you don’t have a yard).

It doesn’t matter what your yard looks like, big or small, landscaped or wild, you can make it work. We have a “desert lot” which basically means a lovely combination of sand, dirt, and clay. Oh, and weeds. Lots of weeds! To figure out what areas you want to incorporate, consider your child’s needs and desires. Ace loves to climb, build (and knock things over!), get messy, and make music. I considered the options and wanted to encourage his likes, while also allowing for a space to relax, and a lot of different sensory materials since he has a sensory processing disorder. An “official” or certified outdoor classroom at a school will have all of these areas available, but when turning my yard into a fun outdoor space for learning and play, I aimed for five areas.

Here are some excellent outdoor area options:

Climbing Area: This can be a structure such as a dome climber or wooden climber, or you can set out tree stumps, pieces of wood, and rope for children to build their own balance beams and ladders. Having a designated climbing area helps children build gross motor skills and by keeping all of the materials in one space, you have the opportunity to help them stay safe (while still taking appropriate risks). You can pad the ground with sand or mulch if you don’t have a soft grass landing.

Building Area: For the youngest kids, you might set out a bucket of mini bricks and a basket of sticks. You can make a “mortar” by letting them mix sand, dirt, and water. Set them free and let them build! Older kids can be supplied with full size bricks, hammer and nails, screws, boards, and even a small hand saw. Assess your child’s needs and skills. I like to keep the building materials accessible at all times for my toddler, but sharp or heavier tools can be brought out on an as needed basis so you know there is always supervision. Kids build confidence when they are allowed to create and build on their own.

Wood Slices

Art Area: In our art area I keep an old tin can full of paint brushes, a few tubs of paint, a roll of paper, and colored pencils. I also have a clipboard for art and drawing on the go. You can go all out in the art area, but I have found that for my child, less is better. The beauty of outdoor art is clean up is rarely needed!

Music and Movement area: A single drum is enough to create a lovely music area. Add a pillow or two, some silks or scarves, some shakers, and some cans and sticks and you will have enough instruments for the entire band. I’ve seen a lot of people even build stages for their kids to act, sing, and dance on, and I would love to do that as well. Adding rhythm to outdoor play helps children engage, stay focused, and feel more relaxed.

Water Play Area: While this can be an elaborate set up full of pumps, tubes, and buckets, a simple plastic water table works for us. I keep a bucket full of cups, spoons, and bowls underneath, and it is stationed by the hose for easy water access.

Gardening Area: Any type of garden will do. The goal is to have your child learn to care for and respect nature by taking care of a small garden. If you don’t have much room, a single container or pot is enough. Start by growing something beautiful, like flowers or colorful cacti, or something super tasty like strawberries or tomatoes. I have the blackest of black thumbs, so keeping a garden has been hard for me, and living in the desert does not help. This year we planted a succulent garden, and I am happy to report that Ace and I have been able to keep it alive for several months now.

Salad tongs in the sandbox, why not

Sand Play Area: Sand is an excellent material for sensory play, digging, and building. We have a small sandbox, but if you have a corner of yard available, you can even just dump a pile of sand there and let your child go for it! Sand play helps with hand eye coordination, fine motor skills, and muscle building.

Dirt Digging Area: Let them get messy! Leave out a bucket of spoons, shovels, a rake… really any old kitchen tool will do. Find a patch of dirt and go to town. Since our entire yard is basically a dirt digging area, I used bricks to turn one corner of the dirt into a designated play area (so we don’t end up with holes all over the yard). Dirt digging is especially fun the day after a storm!

Dirt digging area after a heavy rain.

Gathering Spot: A place to sit and recharge, have a quiet moment, read a book, or meet with friends. Since we are talking about home environments, this can be as simple as a chair or mat on your back patio, or spruce it up with some fairy netting or rainbow silks. Let your child know this is a quiet place to go if they need a break from the rough and messy play in the yard.

A few extra tips –

– You do not have to spend a lot of money, or any money, to get started. Use what you have, check out your local free item boards, ask around to see if friends or family have some wood scraps or extra bricks lying around. You might be surprised at how much you can gather without spending a dime!

– If you have an extra small outdoor space, you don’t need to designate large areas for specific kinds of play. Instead, use buckets or milk crates to store some loose parts. Small bricks, sticks, rocks, pine cones, digging tools, and tin cans are perfect for this. Line them all up, along with a bucket of paints and one of water, and your child will be able to have endless fun while learning outside.

– And if you don’t have a yard? Improvise with your nearest outdoor public space. Load up a wagon with some kitchen tools, a bucket, some sticks and mini bricks, a drum, and some paint, and walk to wherever there is some open space where your child can freely play. Switch out the materials whenever you can, and try to keep it all together so you always have the wagon ready to go, which will make it a lot easier to motivate you to walk somewhere to play!

If you aren’t able to put together an outdoor learning and play space at home, there are a lot of options for classes where your child can explore nature. Tinkergarten, Wild + Free, and the Outdoor Classroom Project all have resources to help connect families in nature based learning classes!