On National Outdoor Learning Day, teachers throughout the Netherlands teach outdoors. This is not only good for children's academic performance, but it is also great fun! In 2022, thousands of children once again received lessons outdoors, and IVN and Jantje Beton held the elections for Outdoor Teacher of the Year. The winner was Ms Tine Nieboer of group 7 at the Buitenveldert Montessori School in Amsterdam.
But of course, teaching outdoors can be done every day! The mission of IVN and Jantje Beton: 25% of lesson time should be spent outdoors. Will you join in? You can get started right away with the more than 150 lessons in the online database.
You learn more outdoors!
Research shows that with more sports and games and better body awareness, children perform better cognitively. Primary school pupils who have played outdoors behave better in class and are more focused on their tasks. In addition, children who use their bodies while learning perform better in lessons.
In 2017, DUO demonstrated that both teachers and pupils would like to have lessons outdoors more often. According to teachers, the ideal ratio for pupils is 75% indoor lessons and 25% outdoor lessons. In reality, the average ratio is 99.5% indoors and 0.5% outdoors. Furthermore, as many as two-thirds of all teachers would like to teach outdoors more often. The biggest obstacle appears to be the lack of outdoor teaching materials.
To help schools and teachers with this, IVN and Jantje Beton, the partners behind National Outdoor Learning Day, worked together with teachers to develop outdoor lessons that align with the core objectives of primary education. On the National Outdoor Learning Day website, you will find an online database with more than 150 lessons for all grades. Together, for example, we developed the climate lesson to discover with your class how climate-proof your school playground is!
Secondary education
Secondary schools can also take part in Outdoor Learning Day. Discover the benefits of lessons in the open air: the fresh air and inspiring surroundings immediately create a more relaxed atmosphere, greater attention and, moreover, enjoyment for pupils. Find inspiration in the database full of lessons from primary education, or use the lessons developed for the Bosatlas of Sustainability. Read more about outdoor learning in secondary education.