Outdoor Learning Easy and Impactful: Tips from Lauren MacLean

Bringing students outside to learn doesn’t just make lessons more engaging. It helps them connect with nature, build hands-on skills, and deepen their understanding of the world around them. Yet, many teachers feel unsure about how to start or worry that they lack the time and expertise to manage outdoor learning.

Meet Lauren MacLean: a passionate teacher, children’s author, and outdoor learning consultant who has been inspiring educators to bring their classrooms outside. With years of experience teaching in public schools and working with organizations like the Soaring Eagle Nature School, Lauren’s mission is to make outdoor education simple, accessible, and meaningful for both teachers and students.

In her work, Lauren emphasizes that you don’t need to be a gardening expert, or even have a lot of time, to make outdoor learning a success. Her ideas are practical and easy to implement, and they focus on using outdoor spaces like school gardens to teach core subjects while fostering a connection with nature.

Here are some of the key takeaways from my recent conversation with Lauren on the School Gardens with Ease podcast.

1. Think of the Garden as a Classroom

Outdoor spaces, like gardens, aren’t just for free time or extracurricular activities. They’re extensions of your classroom, where you can teach subjects like math, science, language arts, and social studies in a hands-on way.

For example:

• Math: Measure plant growth or calculate the area of garden beds.
• Science: Study ecosystems, plant life cycles, or composting.
• Language Arts: Write observational journals about the garden.
• Social Studies: Map the garden or discuss the history of the land.

The key is to treat outdoor learning like any other lesson. It’s part of your schedule, not an add-on.

Lauren encourages teachers to think of the garden not as an “extra” activity but as an extension of the classroom. It’s a space where students can explore the curriculum in hands-on ways, whether they’re measuring plant growth for math, studying ecosystems in science, or journaling their observations in language arts.

By embedding lessons into the garden space, you make learning more engaging and relevant for your students.

2. Schedule It Like Any Other Subject

One of the biggest concerns teachers have is finding time for outdoor learning. The solution? Block it into your weekly plan, just like math, gym, or library.

Treat it like any other subject and block it into your weekly schedule.

For instance, if your math block is on Monday mornings, take that lesson outside to measure garden beds or count plant rows. By integrating outdoor learning into existing lesson plans, you’re not adding extra work. You’re simply teaching in a new environment.

Outdoor lessons don’t have to take extra time. For instance, if you’re teaching measurement in math, move the lesson outside and use the garden as your teaching tool. It’s the same curriculum, just in a new, dynamic setting.

3. Start Small and Build Routines

If the idea of outdoor learning feels overwhelming, start with short, focused activities. Take your students outside for just 10 minutes to observe plants or collect data. Gradually increase the time as students get used to the environment.

Establish clear expectations for behavior outdoors, just like you would in the classroom. Creating a routine, like starting with a circle discussion, helps students see the outdoor space as a structured learning environment.

Lauren shares that transitioning to outdoor learning doesn’t have to happen all at once. Over time, as students become accustomed to outdoor routines, you can extend these lessons.

Establishing clear expectations for behavior outdoors is also crucial. Just like in the classroom, routines and predictability help students understand that the garden is a space for focused learning, not just free play.

4. You Don’t Need to Be a Gardening Expert

One of the most powerful lessons you can teach your students is a growth mindset. You don’t have to know everything about gardening to lead outdoor lessons. In fact, learning alongside your students can be a great opportunity to model curiosity and problem-solving.

Lauren’s honesty about her own gardening skills is refreshing: “I’m not a gardener,” she says, “but I’m learning alongside my students.”

This approach models a growth mindset and shows students that it’s okay to make mistakes. Together, you can research why a plant isn’t thriving or figure out how to solve a problem in the garden. It’s a powerful lesson in collaboration and curiosity.

If a plant isn’t thriving, work with your students to figure out why. If you’re unsure about what to plant, ask a local gardener or consult resources online. The journey of learning together can be just as impactful as the lessons themselves.

5. Use Tools to Make It Easier

To make outdoor learning more manageable, create simple resources to guide your lessons. For example:

• A bulletin board near the garden with curriculum-aligned activities for each subject.
• Monthly task lists so students know what to focus on in the garden.
• Visual aids that compare indoor and outdoor behavior expectations.

Lauren’s newest resource, Sitting with Nature: An Educator’s Guide to Sit Spots, is filled with weekly prompts and lesson ideas to help teachers incorporate this practice into their routines.

6. Leverage the Power of Community

Lauren’s success with outdoor learning often comes from collaboration. By engaging other educators, sharing resources, and creating tools that everyone can use, she’s built a thriving outdoor education culture at her school. Her approach shows that outdoor learning doesn’t have to rest solely on one teacher’s shoulders. It can be a shared effort.

Ready to Get Started?

Outdoor learning can transform your classroom and help your students develop a lifelong connection to nature. Start small, plan intentionally, and watch your lessons come to life in new and exciting ways.

For even more tips and insights, check out my podcast episode with Lauren MacLean on School Gardens with Ease. We dive deeper into everything discussed here and explore Lauren’s inspiring work as a teacher and author. 🎧 Listen to the episode here:

Let’s grow together! 🌱

About Lauren MacLean

Lauren’s love for outdoor education shines through in her work as an author and consultant. Her books, including Me and My Sit Spot and Finding Common Ground, inspire young readers to connect with nature, while her new guide, Sitting with Nature, provides teachers with actionable tools for outdoor learning.

Lauren's website: https://teachoutdoors.ca/