“We already take learning outdoors.”
It’s something I hear often and it’s usually followed by a description of clipboards, worksheets, and maybe a maths trail in the playground. These experiences have value but they’re not quite the same as outdoor learning. In this blog, I want to explore what outdoor learning really is, how it differs from simply taking learning outdoors and why that distinction matters more than ever.
A Step in the Right Direction
Let’s start with what many people mean when they say they “do outdoor learning.” They’re often referring to learning outdoors taking the same lessons taught indoors and delivering them outside. It could be a literacy task with clipboards in the playground, or a number line drawn in chalk on the ground.
This change of scenery can.
- Increase engagement and motivation
- Offer physical benefits from movement and fresh air
- Break routine and stimulate focus
But the key thing? The lesson itself doesn’t change. The environment is a passive backdrop, not an active part of the learning. While this is a good starting point, and a great way to build confidence in taking your class outside, it only scratches the surface of what’s possible.
Where the Environment Impacts the Lesson
Outdoor learning, in contrast, uses the outdoors not just as a place to deliver lessons but as a dynamic, living part of the lesson itself. It can be linked to curriculum areas and can be teacher led or child initiated, but the defining feature is this.
The outdoor environment changes shapes or drives the learning experience.
This approach means embracing spontaneity, working with what nature offers and planning in a way that is responsive to place, weather, season and the learners themselves.
Examples might include.
- Using natural materials to explore fractions or symmetry
- Responding to the weather by investigating rain patterns or wind direction
- Exploring storytelling through place-based narratives, using local landscapes as settings
- Engaging with local flora and fauna to develop observation, enquiry, and scientific thinking
As noted by Education Scotland.
“Well constructed and well-planned outdoor learning supports our children and young people to develop the skills of enquiry, critical thinking and reflection necessary to meet the unpredictable challenges of life in the 21st Century.”
(Source: Successful Approaches to Outdoor Learning, 2022)
This kind of learning is context rich and deeply rooted in experience. It stretches beyond subject boundaries and brings learning to life.
It’s Not Just Forest School
When I first became a teacher many moons ago outdoor learning was school camp, a garden (if you were very lucky), and Forest School. But, it is important to remember that Forest School is just one form of outdoor learning, but it’s not the only one. It is often distinguished through the child, child-led structure. Outdoor learning as a broader pedagogy can be.
- Curriculum linked
- Teacher led or child initiated
- Regular and embedded
- Interdisciplinary
The power lies in recognising that outdoor learning is a pedagogical approach not just an activity or a break from routine.
What Does Policy Say?
Scotland
Scotland leads the way, with outdoor learning explicitly embedded in policy. The Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning (2010) sets the expectation that outdoor learning should be regular, frequent, enjoyable, and challenging, across all stages.
The 2022 Successful Approaches to Outdoor Learning report found:
“In effective establishments, outdoor learning contributes to improved outcomes, including wellbeing, problem solving, communication, and an enhanced understanding of the world.”
(Education Scotland)
Scotland’s Learning for Sustainability (LfS) and GTCS standards also expect educators to embed outdoor experiences that support sustainability and real world learning.
Wales
The Curriculum for Wales (2022) provides schools with the autonomy to design place based, community connected learning. This opens the door for meaningful outdoor learning. The Four Purposes include.
- Healthy, confident individuals
- Ethical, informed citizens
These are directly supported by outdoor learning, especially when it engages with the local environment, sustainability, and wellbeing.
Wales also links this approach to the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, showing a systemic recognition of the importance of environment and sustainability in education.
England
In England, outdoor learning is strongly supported in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which mandates daily outdoor access. Beyond that, it remains variable. The Natural Connections Demonstration Project (2016) offered strong evidence of its benefits, including improved behaviour and attainment.
While not as embedded as in Scotland or Wales, support exists through organisations like the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (CLOtC) and the Forest School Association, who provide frameworks and training to embed outdoor learning in a more consistent, meaningful way.
What Outdoor Learning Looks Like in Practice
In our Early Years Outdoor Planner, we offer weekly themes and seasonal activities that link directly to curricular outcomes. But more importantly, we emphasise responsiveness adapting to children’s questions, interests, and the world around them. We encourage educators to use floorbooks, reflective journals, and child voice to shape the learning journey.
For example.
- In winter, ice on a puddle becomes a spontaneous science investigation.
- A new bird at the feeder sparks a research project in literacy and art.
- A windy day leads to the creation of kites, blending STEM and expressive arts.
These are not pre planned worksheets brought outside they are learning opportunities created because of the outdoor environment.
In primary schools, this could mean exploring maths through measuring sticks and shadows, exploring story telling and technology outdoors with stop animation films using the outdoor space and natural props, or investigating local history by walking the community. Teachers often find that learning outdoors supports social skills, deeper focus, and a stronger connection to place.
In secondary schools, outdoor learning might include data collection for science or geography fieldwork, art inspired by natural textures, or mindfulness walks that support wellbeing. Subject specialists can collaborate to create interdisciplinary opportunities like studying Macbeth outdoors in a woodland or analysing statistics based on wildlife surveys.
In provisions for learners with severe and complex needs, outdoor learning offers multisensory experiences that can reduce anxiety and promote engagement. Sensory gardens, sound walks, nature based crafts, and tactile exploration of leaves, stones, and water can help children connect with learning in ways not always possible indoors. The outdoors can also support physical development, emotional regulation, and communication.
Across all settings, the common thread is this, the outdoor environment actively shapes the learning experience.
If the Weather Changes the Lesson, You’re Doing Outdoor Learning
The distinction is clear.
- If the outdoors is a passive setting, it’s learning outdoors.
- If the outdoors changes the learning experience, it’s outdoor learning.
When we let the environment shape the lesson, we give learners a chance to connect more deeply with the world, themselves, and their learning. We also align more closely with the policy direction across all three nations in the UK, where outdoor learning is increasingly recognised as not just beneficial, but essential.
So yes, take your learning outside. But even better?
Let the outside do some of the teaching.
Want to explore more?
- Curriculum for Excellence Through Outdoor Learning
- Successful Approaches to Outdoor Learning
- Curriculum for Wales
- EYFS Framework (England)
- Natural Connections Demonstration Project
- Council for Learning Outside the Classroom
- Love Outdoor Learning: Early Years Outdoor Planner and Resources is part of our membership
