October 2010
Almost every K–12 school has at least some outdoor
space that faculty could use (or already do) to breathe
life into concepts learned in the classroom. Even within
tight urban settings, many schools have had success
using rooftops to install safe and secure play and garden
areas. Research shows that students better absorb and
retain math, science, language arts, and other skills that
incorporate their immediate environment and use all five
senses (Lieberman and Hoody 1998). A more recent
study has linked outdoor play to stronger social skills
and increased creative development (Miller, Tichota, and
White 2009). These positive educational impacts are
especially strong when outdoor activities are an integral
part of the structured curriculum (Learning through
Landscapes 2008). Once we accept that education
naturally occurs both indoors and out, the term "outdoor
learning" will begin to seem as strange as the neverused "indoor learning."..
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