Create An All-Weather Outdoor Learning Environment To Enable All-Season Outdoor Play And Learning!

We all enjoy the summer term, when lessons can be spontaneously taken outdoors and children are filled with a sense of freedom, outdoors in the fresh air rather than a stuffy classroom they spend the majority of winter inside.

The small change of a lesson being taken outdoors creates an exciting atmosphere, which gives some children – and teachers – the added spark needed as they anticipate the school holidays that are creeping closer and closer.

Outdoors, not only in the summer, children feel happier, calmer and are more engaged with the things going on around them. However not all schools can take their children to learn outdoors due to poor weather preventing outdoor play and learning.

Some schools cannot even plan lessons that use the outdoor learning environment due to the very unpredictable British weather.

Creating an all-weather play space enables outdoor learning to take place all year round, with the addition of suitable clothing, of course, and be included on the class timetable rather than a spontaneous decision on days that bring amazing weather.

How to create an all-weather outdoor learning environment:

We explore how your school can create an all weather outdoor learning environment, which can be used and planned into the time table of the week rather than impulsively decided when the sun decides to make an appearance.

Playground Surfacing

Of course, when it rains and rains for days on end, grass becomes waterlogged, muddy and unsafe and the tarmac becomes flooded and slippery. This means that the outdoor areas cannot be used and can even be dangerous for the children to be outdoors.

Since this is Britain, it rains most of the time, meaning it isn’t very often children can learn outdoors.

To overcome this swampy, slippery mess, schools could consider installing Playground Surfacing to enable outdoor learning to take place all year round.

With surfacing such as Artificial Grass, Wet pour and Saferturf, the outdoor area doesn’t become muddy and slippery and can even be used during wet weather.

Outdoor Classrooms

For those hidden away areas, like forests and natural areas, an Outdoor Classroom is the perfect addition to ensure outdoor learning can take place no matter the weather. Featuring waterproof roofs, all of our outdoor classroom gazebos create the perfect area to take children outdoors for lessons.

Teachers can take a whole class of children outdoors to participate in lessons amongst nature without the weather interrupting learning. Outdoor lessons create a relaxing atmosphere, where children can concentrate and re focus on the topic of learning at hand – even if it’s raining.

Dedicated sporting areas

Many schools PE lessons cannot take place if the weather is poor. To enable PE and outdoor learning to take place all year round, schools can create a dedicated sporting area where the rain will never stop sports and play from taking place.

Our Multi-Use Games Areas create the perfect dedicated sporting area in your school. Free-draining surfacing ensures that the area will never become waterlogged or usable.

If you would like to create an all-weather outdoor learning environment in your school, please feel free to Contact Us here. Alternatively, view our full range of educational play products.