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Prioritizing Outdoor Learning This School Year: How to Keep Nature at the Heart of Your Teaching

Cover Prioritizing Outdoor Learning In Your School Day- Elementary students engaged in outdoor learning activities in a schoolyard, exploring nature together during the first week of school.

Outdoor learning offers countless benefits for students — rom boosting mental health to improving focus, building stronger peer connections, and deepening engagement with the curriculum (Children & Nature Network).

Yet as the school year ramps up, it’s all too easy to let outdoor learning slip down the list of priorities. Assemblies, testing, new routines, and packed schedules can quickly push nature-based learning aside.

However, by intentionally prioritizing outdoor learning and weaving it into your daily and weekly plans, you can ensure your students reap its many rewards all year long.

Here’s how to make outdoor learning a central part of your classroom from day one.

Check out this free step-by-step guide to getting started with outdoor learning

Quote Card- When you prioritize outdoor experiences, you're not just enriching your student's academic learning- you're helping them develop a lifelong connection with nature.

Start With Your “Why” for Outdoor Learning

Prioritizing outdoor learning time throughout the school year begins with your “why” for outdoor learning. As the school year begins to build momentum and your days become more hectic and filled with requirements, assemblies, testing, and all of the things that come with a new school year, outdoor learning can easily become something that you push aside. However, coming back to your “why” can help to keep outdoor learning time in the forefront of your planning.

To truly prioritize outdoor learning, begin by clarifying your “why.”

Ask yourself:

  • Why is outdoor learning important to me?
  • How did spending time outdoors impact me as a child?
  • What experiences do my students have with nature?
  • How do I believe children learn best?
  • What specific benefits could outdoor learning provide for my students?

When you have a strong personal and professional reason for taking learning outdoors, it becomes much easier to protect that time. Knowing your “why” for outdoor learning gives you the confidence to protect that time — especially as research shows that consistent nature exposure supports cognitive development and improves student focus (Frontiers in Psychology, 2019).

Schedule Outdoor Learning Time — and Protect It

One of the most effective ways to keep outdoor learning a priority is to schedule it directly into your timetable. Whether you dedicate one afternoon each week or a daily block, having a consistent outdoor learning time signals to your students (and yourself!) that it’s an essential part of the week.

Some teachers start their day outdoors to help students settle in, while others choose to stay outside after recess to maintain momentum. Find a rhythm that works for your class and stick to it as much as possible.

Once students know when to expect outdoor learning, they begin to look forward to it — and come prepared. Building predictable outdoor routines has been shown to increase student motivation and participation (Harvard School of Graduate Education, 2021)

Communicate Your Outdoor Learning Plans

Share with Administrators

Letting your administrators know about your outdoor learning schedule provides accountability and support. Invite them to visit your outdoor sessions to see the learning in action — this helps build a school culture that values outdoor experiences.

Inform Families and Caregivers

Sharing your outdoor learning plans with families early in the year builds trust and ensures students are prepared with appropriate clothing and gear.

Communicate with Families:

  • Your goals for outdoor learning
  • How will curriculum goals still be met
  • The benefits of outdoor experiences for their children

This transparency helps families become advocates for outdoor learning, rather than obstacles.

A young girl with a pen and clip board smiling at the camera while engaged in an outdoor learning activity

Communicate With Pull-Outs and Specials Teachers

There is nothing more frustrating than having to navigate student pull-outs during outdoor learning time. Students miss out on valuable outdoor time and it is sometimes a challenge to find flow with kids leaving and joining in the middle of your class.

I like to communicate when our outdoor learning time is with the teachers/specialists in advance. This allows them to plan around our outdoor learning time and accommodate pull-outs or special classes at other times. You may need to be flexible with what other times of the day are available for pullouts.

Prioritize Outdoor Learning By Integrating Your Curriculum

Integrating your curriculum into outdoor learning time allows you to keep it as a priority as you don’t have to set aside extra time for outdoor learning, instead, it is a fundamental part of your day. You might choose to do a themed outdoor time that incorporates multiple curriculums.

Rather than viewing outdoor learning as an “extra,” make it an integrated part of your curriculum.

For example:

  • Use natural materials to explore math concepts (measurement, geometry, patterns).
  • Practice descriptive writing by observing seasonal changes or local wildlife.
  • Investigate science topics through hands-on nature exploration.

By embedding curriculum goals into outdoor activities, you make outdoor learning a seamless extension of classroom work rather than an add-on. Research supports this integrated approach, linking outdoor time to improvements in academic achievement and student well-being (American Institutes for Research, 2005).

Quote card- by embedding curriclum goals into outdoor activities, you make outdoor learning a seamless extension of classroom work

Partner Up

Having an accountability partner within your school can help both teachers on track. Better yet, teaming up to do some outdoor activities is a great way to help share the workload and spread the benefits to more students.

Build Momentum Gradually

If your students (or you!) are new to outdoor learning, start small. Begin with short periods outside and gradually increase the time as confidence and comfort grow.

As students build familiarity with the outdoor space and routines, they will begin to feel a stronger sense of ownership and curiosity — and they’ll start asking to spend even more time outdoors!

A young girl sitting in a tree during outdoor learning time. She is looking out from the brances with curiosity

Keep Outdoor Learning a Priority All Year Long

Don’t let outdoor learning be sidelined by busy schedules or changing seasons. By intentionally planning, communicating clearly, and integrating curriculum goals, you can make outdoor learning a core part of your classroom culture.

When you prioritize outdoor experiences, you’re not just enriching your students’ academic learning — you’re helping them develop lifelong connections with nature, which is essential for supporting healthy development and fostering environmental stewardship (National Wildlife Federation).

Take the Next Step

Outdoor learning has the power to transform your classroom and your students. This year, make it your mission to keep nature at the heart of your teaching — and watch your students thrive.

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