Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Six Keys to Useful Outdoor Spaces

  • 12/01/15

As outdoor learning spaces become more and more incorporated in school design, one can’t help but ask, what needs to be considered when designing them to ensure that they’re useful? The experts have several thoughts.

1. Ownership
Two pieces of creating successful outdoor learning spaces that are often ignored are: 1) engaging the maintenance staff, parents and teachers in the planning process; and 2) providing teachers with support, resources and training to know how to adequately use the space and, therefore, help the children use it.

2. Maintenance
Having a maintenance plan is extremely important and should be discussed from the beginning, because everything requires maintenance: asphalt, concrete, plant materials, etc.

3. Community
Connect the outdoor learning spaces to the community. Recruit parents who know a lot about plant materials who are willing to contribute, or the Boy Scouts, a local garden club or the Lions Club can make a contribution.

4. Shade
Provide protection from the elements. The use of shade trees can protect people from the sun and provide a covering from the rain.

5. Storage and Connection
There are going to be materials that the teachers and students will need, and they should be stored next to the area where they will be used. Outdoor learning space won’t be used if it is not located close to the building. It Is important to look at outdoor and indoor learning spaces as connected, rather than segregated.

6. Variety
A successful outdoor learning space includes a lot of different resources, like as a play area, a gathering/teaching space and free space.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • California School District Completes Elementary School Modernization

    The San Diego Unified School District in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting for a whole-site modernization of Pacific Beach Elementary School, according to local news. The school first opened with one building in 1930 and added six more between 1938 and 1957.