The three books in this outdoor activity set are available to download for free from our website. Click here to access the books.

It’s amazing how much can change over the course of a week! Since COVID-19 has required schools to close across the country, most students of all ages are now at home, and most teaching and learning has moved online. If your school, your class, or your family would like to supplement this online education with hands-on outdoor learning and play, we have some ideas for you!

Green Schoolyards America and our partners at the International School Grounds Alliance publish a set of books filled with ideas for outdoor learning, play, and health. This set of 250 hands-on activities and curriculum ideas were contributed by 188 organizations across the United States and 26 countries around the world. The books were originally designed to help schools make the most of their school grounds—but the majority of the ideas can be modified for use in children’s backyards and neighborhoods, close to home.

We plan to publish a series of blogs this month, highlighting outdoor activities from this online collection that are well-suited to our current social distancing situation. This week, the activities we have selected focus on the creative arts! Click here to download free copies of these books, which include the full directions for each of the ideas mentioned below.

We hope you enjoy these activities and we invite you to share them with your friends and colleagues. Please send us photos of your adventures outside, close to home!

PART 1: Explore art in your backyard or neighborhood

Shades of Green

Author: Dr. Herb Broda, Ashland University,
Ashland, Ohio, USA
Ages: 6-12 years old

This activity challenges students to discriminate among many shades of the same color, as they take a very careful look at their surroundings. Kids can look for shades of green—or brown, if winter is still outside your door!
— See Living Schoolyard Activity Guide, page 26

Nature’s Watercolors

Author: Ayesha Ercelawn, La Scuola,
San Francisco, California, USA
Ages: 5-10 years old

Children can grind leaves, flowers, and soil with a mortar and pestle to extract their beautiful colors, and then use the pigments for painting.
— See Living Schoolyard Activity Guide, page 27

Image © Karel Komárek Proměny Foundation

Mountains, Nothing but Mountains

Author: Karel Komárek Proměny Foundation, Prague, Czech Republic
Ages: 5-12 years old

In this activities, children imagine what it would be like to be very small by making tiny models of people and observing how big a small corner of their garden now looks in comparison.
— See International School Grounds Month Activity Guide, page 20

In a Box

Author: Play Learning Life,
Winchester, England, United Kingdom
Ages: 6-11 years old

Children use a box as a framework to create a visual composition or to tell a story, using natural materials they find outside.
— See International School Grounds Month Activity Guide, page 28

Mosaic Pictures with Natural Materials

Author: Green Schoolyards America,
Berkeley, California, USA
Ages: 4-10 years old

Children use rocks, leaves, and other materials they find outside to create temporary “mosaic” compositions.
— See International School Grounds Month Activity Guide, page 30

Create Rubbings to Record the Environment

Author: Susan Humphries, The Coombes School,
Berkshire, England, United Kingdom
Ages: 3-18+ years old

Kids collect rubbings from various outdoor surfaces to explore the texture of their surroundings.
— See Experiential Outdoor Learning in the Schoolyard, page 5.