Thinking of outdoor classroom ideas for summer is definitely one of the more pleasurable aspects of being a teacher or a nursery school assistant but sometimes, even the most outdoorsy amongst us run out of ideas.

It’s can also be a constant battle against the British summer weather.

Too hot, and the children are at risk of sunburn or being irritable because of the heat, or too wet and they all come in with wet clothes, wet hair and the chance of a summer chill!

Well here at Discovering Days, we like to think we have the answers to all of these conundrums that summer classroom time presents.

We have lots of ideas for creative learning that can be done indoors or out, and we have the best in wooden playground equipment that is ideal for providing shade in the sunshine and shelter from the rain, so children get the maximum chance to get lots of fresh air during the longer summer days.

Want to find out more? Read on!

The Outdoor Classroom  

So, let’s start with one of our signature pieces, our amazing, bespoke Outdoor Classroom.

Made from solid Scandinavian Red wood, these beautifully, hand-crafted pieces of equipment are a perfect addition to any school or nursery playground, and with a pitched wooded roof, they provide shelter from the sun or the rain or, whatever the British weather decides to do on the day!  

Children will love being able to gather round on the super sturdy wooden benches which provide ample seating for almost any size of class, to either listen to stories or join in with outdoor music lessons or even a fun sing along, and there’s room in the middle for anybody who fancies getting up to do a star turn!

There’s also robust wooden planters around the outside of the larger outdoor classroom, which not only makes for great aesthetics and another learning opportunity with regards to plants and garden bugs, but provides the necessary additional weight and strength to anchor the classroom firmly in place, wherever you decide to have it erected.

On the smaller wooden shelters, there is still plenty of room, and these have the added advantage of a solid wooden table in the middle, for children and teachers to gather round at break times and have their lunch or a refreshing ice lolly on sports day! Take a look here at one of our completed projects in Greater Manchester to get an idea of just how versatile these outdoor seating areas really are!

Bring the Seaside to the School Playground

If you were thinking of something more interactive for the children in your school or nursery, then look no further than our substantial wooden sandpits that are built to last in any weather and can undertake any amount of rigorous play.

Children will love to climb in and build castles or dig with their buckets and spades, (or their hands!), and will marvel at the way the sand runs through their fingers or examine the texture of the tiny grains whilst learning in lots of different ways about the natural world around them.

And don’t worry about the weather spoiling the sand if you get an inevitable summer downpour, our super sandpits come with easy to fix lids that provide adequate cover in bad weather, or just simply keep the whole area tidy once play time in the sandpit has finished.

Outdoor Activity Panels for Smaller Playground Spaces

If you like the idea of outdoor play, but don’t have the room for one of the signature pieces of equipment, why not take a look at the ever versatile and multi-purpose activity panels to provide stimulating and thought-provoking play, in areas where space is at a premium?

These adaptable activity panels will provide hours of endless fun for children who are inquisitive and who like to create things with their hands, yet still want to be outside in the fresh air and, (hopefully), summer sunshine.

We deliver and install the activity panels which will fit in to almost any space, and fix them securely to the ground with concrete, as with everything we do safety is of paramount importance to us with every aspect of a child’s wellbeing being taken in to consideration when we manufacture our wonderful wooden playground equipment in our workshop in Burnley, East Lancashire.

You can view more about our manufacturing process here.

Why is it Important to Spend Time Outdoors?

Who doesn’t fondly remember playing outside as a child and feeling like you were in a totally different world to the adults around us?

Well this memory you have is just one of numerous benefits that come with playing outside as a child, and that feeling of freedom is amazingly good for a child’s health and wellbeing.

The fresh air will blow away the cobwebs on even the most lethargic person, (including the adults!), and will lend itself to better sleep, feeling more positive and generally all-round lots of fun that you can’t have when stuck in doors.

Children react differently when given the space and the freedom to run, play, shout and laugh with one another, without the jurisdiction of being cooped up in a classroom.

And their imagination will take them to whole new worlds that they can make up and be part of with their friends and peers, or in their own secret and resourceful mind’s eye that comes to life when they are given the chance to play outside.

And taking the classroom outside for an hour has benefits for the teacher too!

Just like the children, it’s a chance to breathe in the fresh air and reinvigorate the senses to the natural world around us; it allows the chance to find out new things about the children in your classroom that you might not have noticed before, and it gives you time to soak up some vitamin D from the sun, providing it has also come out to play of course!

 

Contact Us

So, if you like the sound of some of our Outdoor Classroom Ideas for Summer, why not contact us here for more information or you can call us on 01282 416 755 to discuss any of our bespoke or ‘off the shelf’ wooden playground equipment for schools and nurseries alike.

We also look at Early Learning, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 when designing and manufacturing our terrific toys, so if there is something specific you have in mind, simply call us to have a chat and we can come up with something that is just what you had in mind.

Contact us TODAY to get the best out of Outdoor Classroom Ideas for Summer from the experts here at Discovering days.