Math in Your Backyard

Do you know any children who have been spending a lot of time online lately, with distance learning? Here are a few ideas to help kids of all ages get outside—in their backyard or local green space—to play with math concepts while they enjoy the natural world and take a break from computer screens.

The creative, hands-on learning ideas below were written by our colleagues at organizations across the USA and around the world. The complete directions for each activity—and hundreds of others—are available in our free, online set of outdoor Activity Guides. These books were originally written for use in schoolyards around the world, but many of the ideas they include are equally well-suited for use close to home, in our backyards and neighborhoods. We hope you will have fun with them and will share these ideas widely!

Click here to download the books!

Green Schoolyards America and our partners at the International school grounds alliance publish a set of free, downloadable 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 USA and around the world. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE BOOKS.

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This article is the second installment in our series entitled, Bringing Outdoor Learning Home.
Click here to read Part 1: Explore Art in Your Backyard or Neighborhood.

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Part 2: EXPLORE MATH outdoors, close to home

IMAGE © Chippewa nature center - Preschool

Springtime Math with Worms

Author: Rachel A. Larimore Consulting,
Midland, Michigan, USA
Ages: 3-5 years old

Spring evokes images of tulips, bursting tree buds, frogs calling, puddles… and worms! Children’s interest in worms is a great opportunity to extend play to include math exploration and learning.
— See Living Schoolyard Activity Guide, page 147

IMAGE © SukHprit kaur

Counting is Fun!

Author: Centre for Environment Education,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Ages: 4-7 years old

Explore colors, textures, and materials found in nature, while helping young children learn to count and understand the meaning of numbers.
— See International School Grounds Month Activity Guide, page 98

IMAGE © Juliet robertson

Tens Frame Symmetry

Author: Creative STAR Learning,
Inverurie, Scotland, United Kingdom
Ages: 5-7 years old

In this activity, children use natural materials to create symmetrical patterns that build upon what they have observed in the world around them.
— See International School Grounds Month Activity Guide, page 150

IMAGE © Maria taylor

The Nature of Arrays

Author: Nature Play SA,
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Ages: 5-12 years old

Explore multiplication and division concepts, and practice problem solving and reasoning skills, by arranging natural materials into sets called arrays.
— See International School Grounds Month Activity Guide, page 149

IMAGE © sharon danks

Robert’s Little Finger

Author: Naturskolan i Lund, Lund, Sweden
Ages: 6-11 years old

This activity teaches ratios and collaboration, as children work together to construct a scale model of a member of their group. At home, this idea can include siblings and/or parents.
— See International School Grounds Month Activity Guide, page 70

IMAGE © naturskolan i lund

The Secret Picture

Author: Naturskolan i Lund, Lund, Sweden
Ages: 5-18 years old

Use this enjoyable game to help children improve their vocabulary for mathematical and spatial terms, and concepts such as “over,” “under,” and “below.” At home, play this game with family members.
— See International School Grounds Month Activity Guide, page 69

IMAGE © California coastal commission

Blue Whale: An Animal of Unusual Size

Author: California Coastal Commission,
San Francisco, California, USA
Ages: 10-18 years old

Blue whales are the largest animals known to have lived on Earth. Could a blue whale fit in your schoolyard—or backyard? Learn to measure the height of a tree in your yard, and compare it to the length of a blue whale.
— See Living Schoolyard Activity Guide, page 154

IMAGE © Education outside

Calculate Rainwater Runoff

Author: Education Outside and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco, California, USA
Ages: 10-18 years old

In this activity, students in dry climates determine how many gallons of rainwater can be captured from their rooftop and stored in a cistern. These calculations work equally well for thinking about a school or home rooftop.
— See Living Schoolyard Activity Guide, page 166

Winter Schoolyard Explorations

What can you do in your schoolyard in the winter, when snow is on the ground and tree branches are bare? Sooooo many things, with children of all ages! We would like to invite you and your school to bring your students outside for hands-on learning all winter!

Our Living Schoolyard Activity Guide has an abundance of ideas to help you get started, contributed by organizations across the USA. Click here to download your free copy of this engaging online book which includes the full directions for each of the ideas mentioned below, and more than 200 other activities that can be used year-round.

Try the activities below when snow is on the ground and temperatures are below freezing!

Photo: Shari Wilson

Tree Wonder

Author: Project Central, Kansas City, Kansas
Ages: 5-9 years old

Take your class outside when tree branches are bare in the winter. Spend time observing the branch structure of different types of trees, measure the angles between branches, and record observations with annotated drawings.
— See page 31 for directions.

Photo: Sharon Danks

Frozen Schoolyard Art Gallery

Author: Green Schoolyards America,
Berkeley, California
Ages: 3-7 years old

Collect interesting natural elements from the schoolyard landscape, and freeze them inside small disks of ice to create a temporary schoolyard art gallery.
— See page 40 for directions.

Photo: Matt McKay

Team Building:
The Amazing Winter Race!

Author: Wisconsin Green Schools Network,
Columbus, Wisconsin
Ages: 10-18+ years old

In this activity, students work on team cooperation and fuel their competitive spirit as they race through winter group challenges, including: the sled pull, a five-man snowshoe walk, a GPS sprint, and a snowball throwing competition.
— See page 74 for directions.

Photo: Learning by Nature

Subnivian Explorations

Author: Learning by Nature, Bozeman, Montana
Ages: 8-12 years old

In this science activity, students dig a snow pit to investigate the space in and under the snow-pack. They carefully excavate layers of snow to learn more about winter weather patterns and the wildlife, plants, and people who interact with snow.
— See page 163 for directions.

We hope you have a good time in the snow! Please write to us at info(at)greenschoolyards.org and share photos of your winter schoolyard adventures.

Children, Nature, and School Grounds in Oakland, California

Conference participants visited the beautiful garden at Hoover Elementary School in Oakland, CA.

We had the pleasure of working with our colleagues to shine a spotlight on school grounds in Oakland during the Children & Nature Network’s 2019 International Children & Nature conference in May.

We participated in two conference sessions that explored Green Schoolyards America’s ongoing collaboration with the Oakland Unified School District and The Trust for Public Land to develop and help implement a vision for greening school grounds across Oakland.

On May 15, 2019, we helped the Children & Nature Network to lead a special pre-conference session focused on using green schoolyards as a mechanism to bring nature into children’s lives on a daily basis. Participants in this session came into town from across the United States and around the world, and are engaged in schoolyard greening efforts in their own local regions. We had a lively and productive group discussion and exchange of ideas in the morning.

Sharon Danks (Green Schoolyards America) talks about our collaborative work in Oakland.

Just before lunch, Green Schoolyards America, Trust for Public Land, and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) gave a collaborative slide presentation about our work together, and our vision to green school grounds across the City.

After lunch, the whole group boarded buses and we had the opportunity to bring everyone to see three Oakland schools where greening is planned or underway.

Participants in the schoolyard tour visit Markham Elementary in Oakland, CA to learn about changes planned for the grounds.

On our visit to Markham Elementary, The Trust for Public Land showed the visiting group a schoolyard master plan that will help transform a very paved school site (above) into a more park-like green space with trees, gardens, and a variety of outdoor learning and recreational spaces. This school is one of the five pilot projects that our partnership is producing. The Trust for Public Land is leading the design process.

On our visit to Hoover Elementary, garden teacher Wanda Stewart shared the work she has been doing with her students, school volunteers, and the wider community to develop a spectacular garden and outdoor learning space on the school grounds. The program already in action at this school is a model for others in our region, and its benefits to students are already very clear. Several students joined the tour and told the visitors about what they appreciated about spending time in green space at their school. The students were also expert tour guides who led the adults through the garden and helped them to see it through their eyes.

Students at Hoover Elementary joined the discussion about their school garden, and helped the visiting adults learn about the program.

On May 16, the three partner organizations also spoke at a separate conference session about greening school grounds in Oakland. Sharon Danks (Green Schoolyards America), Alejandra Chiesa (Trust for Public Land), and OUSD School Board Vice President Jody London co-presented (shown below), and engaged the audience in a conversation about the tremendous need for this work, the challenges involved in trying to dramatically change school grounds, and the process and strategies we are using to bring green schoolyards to scale in Oakland.

The Trust for Public Land’s Alejandra Chiesa speaks to conference attendees.

OUSD School Board Vice President Jody London speaks at the conference.

Later in the day on May 16, Sharon Danks (Green Schoolyards America) also collaborated with colleagues John Fisher (Life Lab) and Nathan Larson (Wisconsin School Garden Network) to lead a separate session at the conference focused on the topic of developing and sustaining networks to further the school garden and green schoolyard movements. Our workshop shared examples from our own work, and promoted a lively dialogue about network-building among session participants.

Green Schoolyards America greatly enjoys sharing our work at conferences and meeting our colleagues. It is wonderful to hear about inspiring efforts happening all around us, near and far. We will close this post with a snapshot (below) of our green schoolyard colleagues who were in town from across the United States as well as England and Chile!

A lively gathering of green schoolyard colleagues from near and far—out for ice cream to continue our conversations after the conference!