Maths in the outdoors

I believe it is important to encourage maths and cross curricular subjects in the outdoors. This can be done in so many ways and is so easy to carry out as a practitioner.  We spent a seminar session looking at how you can teach maths in the outdoors. As a group we looked at the resources you can use and how you can also do it with limited resources and use natural materials.

What are benefits of doing maths in the outdoors?

-       By doing maths outside as a child you can physically see how maths works rather than in theory and on paper.

-       You can also use resources to interlink different topics like science and physical education.

-       Teaching outdoors keeps children engaged and by changing the environment you keep the children interested as well as excited which motivates them to listen to the practitioner.

-       It can bring out the confidence of some students as they are in a different environment and therefore may feel less pressure.

-       Children have a higher level of motivation

-       There is the opportunity to see maths as cross-curricular.

-       Learning outdoors gives you a meaningful application of problem solving strategies and thinking skills and a heightened sense of purpose and relevance.

-       By teaching outside you gain a realisation that our environment offerers opportunities for learning and enjoyment

Maths can make some people feel anxious, leading them to avoid situations where they may have to use mathematics (Chinn, 2012). Doing maths in the outdoors can distract them from this fear and often when lessons are taught outdoors children forget they're learning and just enjoy what is happening.

       What are the challenges of teaching in the outdoors?

As well as the many benefits there are also some weaknesses of working with children outdoors such as;

-       There is an increase of risk due to unsteady environments.

-       Children can become excited and therefore distracted as it is not their normal environment, this can cause interruption from others education and disruption for the teacher.

-       There are limited resources in the outdoors whereas inside, classrooms are tailored to teach so therefore equipped with appropriate materials to meet the curriculum.

References: 
Chinn, S., 2012. Beliefs, Anxiety and Avoiding Fear in Mathematics. Child Development Research 2012.