As schools and districts move instruction outside where the risk of disease transmission is lower, there are various approaches to curriculum that can be considered. Perhaps the most obvious approach is to simply move instruction outside and teach the current curriculum in a classroom on the schoolyard or in a nearby park. Another approach is to integrate the outdoor environment and nature into the curriculum and use it as a lens and context for learning. These approaches are not mutually exclusive, however, and districts may choose to combine them. In this article, we provide links to important initial instructional considerations such as infrastructure and classroom management, brief overviews of each approach to the curriculum, and resources for those teachers who are ready to integrate the outdoors into their lessons.

As schools and districts engage in curriculum planning, they should weave culturally responsive practices into their pedagogy to guarantee that the outdoor learning space and content is equitably accessible to all students. Many people's relationship with the outdoors has been inevitably touched by a legacy of exclusion in these spaces. Schools and districts must be careful not to make assumptions that all students feel safe, comfortable, and ready to learn outside. Schools and districts should take the time to explore their community and develop the conditions conducive to accessing the inspiring and healing magic of the outdoors. There are resources online that can support your school or district’s overall work in this area, such as The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools’ Culturally Responsive Curriculum Scorecard or this research brief and discussion guide on Culturally Responsive Curriculum. Please also see our articles on Outdoor Classroom Management as well as Tips for Creating a Positive Outdoor Experience for Students for more.

Infrastructure and Management Considerations

If your school or district has made the decision to take learning outdoors, initially your focus will be on infrastructure and how to set up an outdoor classroom such that it is conducive to teaching and learning for all students. An outdoor classroom will need seating, shade and shelter, a whiteboard, and materials such as clipboards. Thoughtful infrastructure planning and design can help set students up for success outside. Please refer to our chapter on Creating Outdoor Spaces for detailed information on transforming your schoolyard into a learning space. 

In addition, your teachers’ focus will be on outdoor classroom management and ensuring students know how to appropriately interact with the outdoor space. Teachers will need to create routines and rituals just like they do for the indoor classroom. Our article on Outdoor Classroom Management shares many tips and tricks for new and veteran teachers alike.

Approach 1: Moving Indoor Curriculum Outside

Schools and districts might choose to focus on “outdoor instruction” instead of “outdoor education” when approaching the return to school. The intention behind a careful use of language such as this would be to not alienate staff who are not as comfortable or familiar with outdoor education, which represents a particular and vast body of knowledge and skills. Seating and a whiteboard may be all that is needed on the schoolyard for teachers to make the move outside.

Indoor Curriculum Adaptation Examples 

Teachers can also make quick and easy adaptations to indoor lesson plans using the outdoor setting. Consider the following examples for inspiration. 

Social and Emotional Learning. Conduct the “morning meeting” or circle time (anytime) outside. Also, host conflict resolution opportunities or mask-free peace corners outside.

English Language Arts. Read and write outside, or use outdoor or environmental-themed reading materials. Also, assign writing projects that use the outdoor environment as inspiration — or facilitate a traditional Writers’ Workshop and offer journal reflection opportunities while outside. Engage students in nature journaling to deepen their connection to the outdoors.

Math. Use natural or found materials in math lessons on counting, addition and subtraction, fractions, and geometry. Think about ways to use real-world experiences outside to teach problem-solving.

Elementary Science. Science presents many opportunities to incorporate the outdoors. Plant seeds in the ground instead of in cups. And teach about erosion using the ground outside instead of trays of soil or rock. Document daily calendar and weather observations outside. Conduct light and shadow experiments using the sun and shade outside. Also, track the sun’s position in the sky daily throughout the seasons.

Social Studies. Take a neighborhood walk to teach about the local area and how it has been shaped by the communities living there. Use this as a jumping point into a deeper project. Cook outside and connect with local experts (members of local First Nations, students’ family members who can share traditional recipes, or local organic farmers, chefs, and food sovereignty organizations).

“We had to wake up to the reality that not all teachers are prepared to go [outside]. We have to embrace that and be really supportive and encouraging to all. [For the] people who are just bringing their content outside, [we don’t want them] feeling judged or compared to those adapting their curriculum to outside.” — Michael Livingston, principal of Tunbridge Central School, Tunbridge, Vermont.

Approach 2: Integrating the Outdoors into the Curriculum

Taking instruction outside provides a tremendous opportunity for schools and districts looking to more deeply integrate their curriculum with the outdoor environment and nature. As the environmental education and garden-based education fields have shown, hands-on lessons outside improve student achievement, confidence, and skills in a variety of subject areas. In addition, students also come away with an environmental literacy that is necessary to address the many environmental challenges facing us, including climate change. 

As mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, an authentic place-based approach to teaching and learning outdoors can support your school’s efforts to build a more inclusive community. Place-based education also offers schools an approach to curriculum that can be centered outside. By definition, place-based education is any learning experience that uses “local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences … as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science and other subjects across the curriculum” (from Getting Smart: The Power of Place). The National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative encourages schools to use a place-based approach, centered in their local community, in their curriculum planning whenever possible.

"Big Green: Searchable Online Curriculum and Activities"
— Big Green

"Cornell Garden-Based Learning: Lessons"
— Cornell University

"E Movement: Virtual Curriculum"
— E Movement

"Edible Schoolyard: Searchable Resource Library"
— Edible Schoolyard

"Evergreen, Canada: Tools and Publications/Lesson Plans"
— Evergreen

"Inside Outside Curriculum Resources"
— Inside Outside

"KidsGardening.org: Lesson Plans"
— KidsGardening.org

"Kootenay Inspiration Handbook"
— Kootenay Boundary School Districts

"Life Lab: PreK-8th Grade Lessons and Activities" (purchase required)
— Life Lab

"Life Lab: Curriculum Resource List"
— Life Lab

"Out Teach: Searchable Curriculum in Science, Literacy, and Math" (free, sign-in required)
— Out Teach

"Tinkergarten Activities"
— Tinkergarten

Book: "Our First Harvest: Bilingual Pre-K Curriculum" (purchase required)
— City Blossoms

Book: "The National Curriculum Outdoors", UK (purchase required)
— Deborah Lambert, Michelle Roberts & Sue Waite

"Botany on Your Plate"
— University of Berkeley Botanical Garden

"EnrichLA: Curriculum Resources"
— EnrichLA

"FoodCorps: Lessons"
— FoodCorps

"Food Ed Hub"
— Teachers College, Columbia University

"Food Lessons"
— Edible Schoolyard

"Garden Nutrition Curriculum"
— USDA Food and Nutrition Service

"Nourish Curriculum"
— Nourish

"Resources for Waste Free Lunches and Garden and Food Safety"
— Kokua Hawaii Foundation

"Seed-to-Table Curriculum"
— Edible Schoolyard NYC

"City Blossoms: Activity Guides"
— City Blossoms

"CitySprouts: Science Modules and Videos"
— CitySprouts

"Education Outside: K-5 Outdoor Science Curriculum"
— Education Outside

"EnrichLA: Curriculum Resources"
— EnrichLA

"Exploring Number Sequence and Order"
— Juliet Robertson

Families in Nature

"FOSS Outdoors: Outdoor Science Curriculum"
— FOSS Outdoors

"Inquiry Outside"
— MINTS

"Junior Master Gardener: K-8 Curriculum Resources" (purchase required)
— Junior Master Gardener

"KidsGardening.org: Lesson Plans" 
— KidGardening.org

"Minnesota Early Childhood Outdoors", COVID Toolkit (fill out the form and the toolkit will be emailed to you)

"OBIS (Outdoor Biology Instructional Strategies)"
— The Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley

"Outdoor Math Using Sticks and Stones"
— Juliet Robertson

Project WILD

Project WET 

"Science Outside"
— The BEETLES Project

"The Soil Story Science Curriculum, Middle School"
— Kiss the Ground

Strategies for Teaching Math Outdoors (video)

"Symmetry"
— Juliet Robertson

"Taking FOSS Outside K-5"
— FOSS

"Taking FOSS Outside Middle School"
— FOSS

"Wild Math Curriculum" (purchase required)
— Wild Learning

"5 Minute Field Trips, Teaching about Nature in your Schoolyard"
— Calgary Zoo

Book: "The Growing Classroom Activity Guide" (purchase required)
— Life Lab

Book: "Math in the Garden" (purchase required)
— University of Berkeley Botanical Garden

Book: "Messy Maths: A Playful, Outdoor Approach for Early Years" (purchase required)
— Juliet Robertson

"3 Ideas for Taking SEL Outdoors"
— EduMotion SEL

"Supporting Social Emotional Learning in Outdoor Science"
— The BEETLES Project

Explore Mindset Outdoor SEL
— Explorer Mindset

"Grow Outside Toolkit"
— Grow Outside

"12 Games to Teach Social-Emotional Learning"
— Playworks

"Cornell Garden-Based Learning: Activities"
— Cornell University

"E Movement: Guidelines and Activities"
— E Movement

"Green Schoolyards America: Schoolyard Activity Guides"
— Green Schoolyards America

"Learning Through Landscapes: Outdoor Activities"
— Learning Through Landscapes


"Quick and Easy “Backpocket” Outdoor Activities" (a series of short videos)
— Life Lab

“Resources for Nature Journaling in Schools"
— John Muir Laws

"Tinkergarten Activities"
— TInkergarten

"Composting in the Classroom Scientific Inquiry for High School Students"
— Nancy Trautmann & Marianne E. Krasny, Cornell University

"Edible Schoolyard: Searchable Resource Library"
— Edible Schoolyard

"French Fries and the Food System: A Year Round Curriculum Connecting Youth with Farming and Food" (book, purchase required)
— The Food Project

"Food System Curriculum"
— The Food Project

"Green Schoolyards America: Schoolyard Activity Guides"
— Green Schoolyards America

"Hunger and Homelessness Curriculum"
— The Food Project

"MINTS: Inquiry Outside"
— MINTS

"Resources for Nature Journaling in Schools"
— John Muir Laws

"Teaching the Food System from Farm to Fork"
— Foodspan

"Edible Schoolyard: Searchable Resource Library" 
— Edible Schoolyard

"Best Practices for Cooking Outside"
— Education Outside

"Recipes for Cooking in the Outdoor Classroom"
— Education Outside

"Essential School Garden Cooking Supplies"
— Education Outside

"Learn from Home" (includes cooking in the garden)
— EnrichLA

"FoodCorps: Program Guide"
— FoodCorps

"FoodCorps: Resources and Recipes"
— FoodCorps

"Hand Washing Station Set-Up"
— Minnesota Cooperative Extension 

"School Garden Support Organization Network and Online Forum"
— SGSO Network

USDA Food Safety in the Garden
— USDA Food and Nutrition