Let’s Start an Outdoor Classroom Project!
Outdoor classroom ideas have been around since the days of Socrates, but it was a rare sight in modern day America before the pandemic. Sure, a few teachers may have occasionally taken their kids outside. Most of us ran laps around a football field or a soccer pitch in gym class. But that was pretty much it.
If you approached most school administrators with outdoor classroom ideas before the pandemic, they’d have turned their heads sideways at you. But fast forward to today, and suddenly outdoor classrooms are more popular than ever. Well, since ancient Greece, anyway.
Parents are trying to promote good health and want their kids getting fresh air while remote learning. School administrators are setting up huge party tents and hosting classes outdoors in an effort to promote social distancing. Outdoor classrooms suddenly make a whole lot of sense, and choosing the right party tents and other equipment for the job is an essential stage of outdoor classroom design.
Starting an outdoor classroom project probably seems like a pretty huge undertaking at first. But it’s actually fairly easy to plan out great portable outdoor classrooms using party tents, folding tables, folding chairs, and a few other accessories. And best of all, you can use them for most of the school year. Any day when the temperature isn’t freezing is safe, if you outfit your tent with the right equipment that is.
The Perks of Taking School Outside
Now that people are giving the idea of outdoor classrooms some real attention, the benefits of taking school outside are quickly becoming apparent. And studies confirm that outdoor classes have lots of perks for students.
According to Outdoor Nebraska, outdoor classrooms promote creativity, enhanced problem solving, and better student behavior. Test scores and grades generally improve, too. And the benefits to health are almost countless, with students seeing reduced blood pressure, reduced obesity, decreased stress, and strengthened immune systems. There’s even evidence to support a reduction in ADHD symptoms.
A 2018 study from the University of Illinois at Urbana found that children studying outdoors had improved focus and concentration versus students who only studied inside. Those aforementioned health benefits pay off even further by enhancing a student’s ability to pay attention in class and stay focused on their tasks.
The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point published a study with similar results. They found students studying outdoors benefited from improved health and had more focus. They also say outdoor learning spaces promote a stronger connectivity to a student’s community and family and improve their sense of civic attitudes and responsibility.
Putting Together Outdoor Learning Spaces
Let’s start planning an outdoor learning space. And we’ll begin with the biggest item you’ll need: a party tent. As you may already know, party tents come in all sorts of styles and sizes, so it can be intimidating trying to figure out which tent is right for your backyard or school campus.
Frame tents are going to be the safest bet for most applications. You can set them up on nearly any terrain. You can leave them up longer than pole tents. And using a tent jack, one or two people can get a frame tent raised in a reasonably short amount of time. Also, frame tents can be anchored with weight, rather than driving tent stakes into the ground, a significant perk that reduces labor time.
Cost effective pole tents can of course also be used for your outdoor classroom. Just keep in mind that pole tents are a bit more limiting for space. They require center poles, using up some valuable internal real estate. And their use of stakes and guy ropes reduces space outside the tent and can present fast moving children with trip hazards.
In cooler weather, you’ll want to add tent sidewalls and tent heaters into the mix. We suggest reading this article we’ve prepared explaining how to heat a party tent in winter and fall weather. And remember, we strongly recommend not using party tents in freezing conditions.
As for seating, folding tables and party chairs are probably your best bet. After all, you don’t want to mess around with hauling school desks outdoors, right? And folding tables and party chairs can be used for all sorts of events, including fundraisers, sports events, student organization meetings, and more.
Preparing Your Outdoor Learning Spaces Even Further
Now that we’re equipped to bring our outdoor classroom ideas to life, we should take some time to think about activities and how to effectively use our new outdoor learning spaces. How do we get the most out of our new outdoor classroom?
Movement is key for promoting health, especially for younger kids. Developing lesson plans that involve physical activity can go a long way toward getting the most out of the health benefits of outdoor classrooms. For instance, you might try:
- A relay race around the exterior of the tent where students can only accept their baton after correctly answering a question or completing a task
- Setting out cards or other items on the ground for students to arrange, jump to, or collect
- A quiz where students win a few minutes jumping in a bounce house for each question they answer correctly
- Creating “pods” where students learn specific elements of the lesson plan in one area before walking over to the next station
- Art or photography classes involving the natural environment; maybe take students on a walk around the block photographing animals, or ask them to draw something they’ve seen when they get back to the tent
One of the great things about party tents is their versatility. You can decorate them however you want. You can use tent sidewalls, or not. Consider all of this versatility as a part of your toolbox when organizing outdoor classes. With some experimenting, there’s little you can’t do with a commercial party tent.
Let’s Make Your Outdoor Classroom Ideas a Reality!
This year has been … well … less than great. But there’ve been a few upsides to this whole mess, and one of those is our discovery of just how beneficial it can be to hold classes outdoors. When all of this is over, many parents, teachers, and school administrators might be reluctant to take their classes back indoors.
The learning and health benefits of outdoor classrooms are indisputable, and the costs are impressively nominal. It’s getting to be easier to argue in favor of outdoor classroom projects than to argue against them. If it’s not freezing or snowing, outdoor learning spaces will win ten times out of ten.
Party Tents Direct is happy to help you find everything you need to bring your outdoor classroom ideas to life. We carry party tents, folding tables and chairs, tent sidewalls, tent heaters, tent jacks, tent stake drivers, and more. Give us a call today at 1-716-566-5804 and we’ll gladly help you find everything you need to build the perfect outdoor classroom!
