Are you considering investing in an outdoor classroom? Then read on to find out about the outdoor space that excites me the most!
I often receive emails or messages from companies who create playgrounds, school equipment, outdoor equipment etc asking me if I would be interested in seeing what they have to sell… and could I help by recommending them to schools. The thing is, if they have done their homework on us they will realise that so often my message to schools is not to buy big equipment but instead train their staff in how to utilise their space. You do not need much to take learning outdoors, as my kit list blog shows. Once businesses realise this, they often vanish as quickly as they appear.
Ian Smith and the team at Jupiter Play take a different approach. I began to discover this when Ian invited me for a tour of the Crannog Adventure Park over at Drumpellier Country Park in North Lanarkshire. I am a bit of a geek and loved how their park complements not only the landscape of the site but it also reflects its history.
This site also showed me that they truly understand the meaning of accessibility. Many of their sites, including the Crannog, have passed the Inclusive Play PiPA assessment. Having taught in a severe and complex school, I have a small understanding of how rare and yet important this is.
It is fair to say, after Ian provided me a tour of the Crannog I was curious to learn more and in particular, how they work with and support schools. But Ian had that covered. Back in May, I attended a seminar to hear more about what they do, how they do it and why they do it.
And this is when I came across a piece of equipment I have been telling schools about ever since. It is the Lapsett Planetarium. As an outdoor practitioner, I loved it as you can fit a whole class inside it. This would provide a base during outdoor sessions or an ideal outdoor classroom. As a Scot, I loved it as it is enclosed – I can dodge the weather and enjoy all weather play. As a teacher, I loved it as I could teach every area of the curriculum from it!
It would be great to imagine every school has woodland and can just throw a tarpaulin up for shelter, but the reality is that many schools only have concrete areas and therefore need a freestanding structure. An outdoor classroom can entice teachers who prefer fair weather outdoors. It can give a base for lessons and encourage further exploration. Now, the Planetarium is not sold as an outdoor classroom, but it fits the billing.
But it does more than simply provide a space. It sparks imagination for literacy, encourages learning about space science, and develops gross motor skills and coordination through climbing with the nets, ladders and climbing walls. It even helps support other areas, such as learning about the seasons and time through maths, stem development, and so much more. This one piece of equipment does it all!
It is aesthetically pleasing – allowing me to see the stars and constellations during the day. As a teacher, I would teach about space yet only have textbooks or videos to watch. This gives me a new way of approaching this! I
The Planetarium is more than just an outdoor classroom. Children can climb on it, play in it and learn across the curriculum with it.
This is a fantastic piece of kit and well worth thinking about.
Oh, remember how at the start of this blog I said companies often ask me to share what they do. Ian and the team have not asked for this blog, or for me to share what they do. They trust it is high enough quality to speak for itself. But I wanted to shout about it as I genuinely love their ethos and this piece of kit!
But if you do want to talk to them you can find them over at – https://jupiterplay.co.uk/
