Learning outside resources

Primary School Outdoor Learning Curriculum Plan

Month by month, from nursery to Year 6, including learning and risk assessments.
"This Outdoor Learning Curriculum Plan has been devised taking into consideration celebrations, community, annual events along with maintenance jobs, routines and free play but it also leaves room for responsive/planning in the moment (PITM). There is enough flexibility within each month to introduce new activities, change and adapt and follow the children’s ideas (where possible, resource dependant). Each session will introduce an element of British Sign Language and the children will be introduced to a sign of the session each week." Incredibly thorough and in-depth 70-page document created and shared freely by Gemma Hill-Davis of Camp Curiosity, 2021.

Eco-schools: topic related resources

Ten topics for each stage: Early Years, Primary and Secondary age: projects, lessons and inspiration for making your school more eco-friendly – topics include: energy, litter, waste, water, global citizenship, transport, healthy living, biodiversity and school grounds.

Eden Project: school lesson plans

Free curriculum-linked lesson plans from the Education Team – to help you teach primary and secondary classes everything from biology to design.

Educate Outside: outdoor learning resources for teachers

A wide selection of free and paid-for science, maths and literacy resources. (US)

An Explorer’s Guide to The Lost Words

This free guide by Eva John accompanies The Lost Words book by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. "It’s for anyone with an interest in nature, words and images who wants to explore further some of the ideas and creatures conjured up in their enchanting ‘spell book’." Also seasonal posters to download, info on how to run your own training sessions, and other related resources – all free.
John Muir Trust

Learning through Landscapes Outdoor Lesson Ideas

"These free outdoor learning ideas have been developed and proven by teachers and early years educators. All are sorted by key stage, curricular area and age suitability."

National Wildlife Federation: lesson plans & webinars

NWF’s collection of more than 1,000 lesson plans are designed to introduce students to life science, ecology, wildlife biology, scientific identification, and observation. All lesson plans are aligned to the National Science Education Standards, USA.

Nature Lab

The Nature Conservancy's youth curriculum platform. ‘Research and designed specifically for a young audience and classroom use.'
Also Nature Lab at home: "four week-long thematic family guides to lead at-home enrichment activities! With videos and learning activities, including a weekly hands-on project to get outside safely, kids can explore nature right in their community." (US).

Outdoor Classroom Day - ideas

"These are individual lesson and topic ideas sourced from a broad range of experts and organisations. You’ll see we’ve concentrated on inspiration, leaving the planning of how the activity will be delivered up to the person that knows their class and environment best – you.!"

Polli:nation

'Find expert advice and resources to help identify pollinators and make habitat and homes for them. Whether in a school or community space or even your back garden you can help protect pollinators too.' Pollination toolkit, teachers guide, case studies & more.

SEED resources

Topics for teachers, with resources for early years, primary and secondary levels – on habitats & homes, energy & climate change, equality & justice, health & wellbeing, water, green growth & economics, design for the future, nature and biodiversity, communication & media, working with the community, food & farming.

TES

Teachers forum & resource sharing - search 'outdoors' for tons of discussions & information.

Timeline of Environmental History

‘A detailed chronological exploration of the history of the interaction between human culture and nature … a reference tool for students, educators, scholars, and anyone interested in environmental history and related subjects. The timeline extends from deep history to the present day … divided in three main blocks: Prehistory and Antiquity, Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, Industrial Revolution and the 20th century. From Environmental History Resources.

Why Farming Matters

Bring food production, farming, and the environment into a learning context; curriculum areas of English, maths, geography, science, art and design. Use separately or as part of a larger topic on food, farming, climate change, history, the environment, wildlife and the countryside. From LEAF/Countryside Classroom.