This lesson plan is a comprehensive lesson plan for how to use your senses in the Great Outdoors. I have used this as a stand-alone lesson with a group of 8 & 9-year-olds. It can be adapted to suit any age group and of course can be changed to suit the needs of the group. I used a variety of learning strategies to develop curiosity and overall interest. It seemed to work! More information can be found on www.garethmate.com

This is a Geography resource that focuses on World Rivers. It provides appropriate information about the world’s major rivers. Asks questions and allows children to study a river of choice and provide a suitable presenation that focuses on what they have found out. This resource is more suitable for KS2 children. More information can be found on my website www.garethmate.com

This is a MS Word document that is easily adaptable to suit your needs. It focuses on a local river study and also includes opportunities to develop feedback and evaluate your progress. It is ideal to support the topic of rivers and can also be used as Homework research topic. I have used this with my Year 4 Class and they were really positive about it. It was completed independently and then discussed as small groups.

A PowerPoint that can be adapted to suit your needs. This activity focuses on building and outdoor shelter and gives some structure on how to do this. Ideas can start in the classroom and build around writing and drawing tasks. Before all of those ideas are put into practice out in the field. Ideal for Primary age children.

This Outdoor Exploration Trail is an activity I have used many times before for school insets and workshops. It is open-ended and builds on enthusiasm and creativity in the outdoors. It has a cross-curricular approach and supports all different subject areas, and can easily be adapted to suit the needs of your group. I have added a list of resources that might help to support this activity. For more information please get in touch!

This is a Playground Project activity I have used many times before and adapted it to suit the needs of the age group and audience. I have provided a wide variety of tasks which will hopefully allow all children to develop creativity in their presentation skills and writing tasks. I have used this as an after SATs activity and it worked pretty well.

Weather Diary for any age range in KS1 or KS2. This simple resource allows the children to record the daily weather on a record sheet. They can match the weather to the specific day and record the results through writing and also pictures.

Experience the wonders of the Great Outdoors with this simple Observation Alphabet resource. For use in the outdoors and also back in the classroom. This resource is suitable for both KS1 and KS2 levels. It can be used as a stand-alone resource within a Forest Schools or Outdoor Learning context and can also support extended Literacy-based activities. The resources develops great self-awareness and further interest about the wider world around us. It also helps to develop simple Literacy skills through descriptive sentence work and poetry. More information can be found on my website www.garethmate.com

This is my second practical outdoor learning guide, and it forms part of my Explore, Learn, Create series. It is made up from practical notes and advice for you to use in both the classroom and the outdoors. This addition mainly focuses on fire lighting, how to build a campfire and learning opportunities within the outdoor setting.