By now, around 130 primary schools in the Netherlands have an Indoor Forest, and everyone is absolutely thrilled. Many children find their current classroom boring. Filled with plants, it is much cozier. Children spend 40 percent of the time they are awake in the classroom. It is therefore important to take the atmosphere and indoor climate into account. Moreover, all kinds of research show that greenery reduces stress. This is beneficial in the classroom, where tests are also frequently taken. In addition, all those little plants help absorb sound, resulting in less noise and enabling children to concentrate better.
Doing math with plants
Plants in the classroom really offer many benefits. Students feel responsible for their own plant. They care for it, take cuttings to grow at home or, for example, for the local care home, and they are also integrated into math lessons. For example, students measure how much their plant has grown over a certain number of weeks. How many millimeters is that per week?
And of course, they also provide successful experiences. The school plants in the Indoor Forest, such as the snake plant and the spider plant, have been selected for that reason. They are almost impossible to kill.
More information about IVN’s Indoor Forest can be found here.