This planning is a series of 6 outdoor lesson ideas with a focus on using natural materials and resources to teach and consolidate phonics learning, taking early spelling outdoors. Each activity includes, an objective, resources list, preparation list, adult role, warm up activity, main activity, plenary and evaluation. The ideas in this hand out have been tried and tested over numerous sessions, tailored to the individual needs of the children and specific objective. Many more ideas are now readily found online, but this short compilation provides a small selection to get you started. One of a collection of resources provided by Deborah Lambert, co author of Bloomsbury’s National Curriculum Outdoors series of books.

This planning is for an EYFS / Y1 Gruffalo Day (a vocabulary development case study day). The day was divided into 3 sessions allowing time for breaks and lunch, but you may like to use or develop some or all of the ideas over the course of a few days as part of a themed week. The resources in this vocabulary development case study day were set up as a ‘roundabout’ of activities with a mixture of child initiated and adult-led learning. The planning includes, objectives, curriculum links, resources list, preparation list, prior learning, adult role, warm up activity, main activity, a selection of independent challenges, adult supported activities, plenary and evaluation prompts. This resource is one of a series produced by Deborah Lambert , who is co-author of Bloomsbury’s National Curriculum Outdoors series.

Developing a Natural Schooling Approach - a self directed CPD reading resource for teachers and school leaders. This booklet consists of 5 Key Elements written to support participants in their understanding of how a Natural Schooling approach to outdoor learning can make a meaningful difference to not just the learners, but the teachers themselves. It draws on the experiences of the Erasmus + Natural Schooling project using examples, case studies and current research. It provides opportunities for practitioners to reflect on their own professional practices and to consider the potential and implications of adopting a Natural Schooling approach in their own setting. This course is Intellectual Output 7, of the Natural Schooling Project and has been written by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s ‘National Curriculum Outdoors; a complete scheme of work’ series of books. Visit the National Curriculum Outdoors website to find out more.

The Erasmus+ Natural Schooling project Evaluation Report is here to view. The Natural Schooling project was a collaboration outdoor learning project with organisations from Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK. The document forms part of the Erasmus+ funded ‘Natural Schooling: using curriculum innovation projects to improve student outcomes’ intellectual outcomes and reports on the findings of the project. It also includes assessment data and the rationale for outdoor learning. The value and impact of the Natural Schooling projects is clearly evident in the data gathered and evaluated in this report. The value of transnational collaboration that underpinned the overall success of the project cannot be underestimated. This evaluation report and other free to download project documents and lesson plans can be accessed from the Natural Schooling.eu or National Curriculum Outdoors websites where you can also find out more information about the Erasmus+ project.

This English version handbook is a collaborative output by organisations in Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK as part of the Erasmus+ funded ‘Natural Schooling: using curriculum innovation projects to improve student outcomes’ and is designed to guide readers to key resources relating to Outdoor Learning, Natural Schooling and inter-professional working. This handbook shares planning for Natural Schooling curriculum innovations with those interested in learning with, about and through nature. The handbook is also available in other language versions (Swedish, Italian and Spanish). This is free to download from the Natural Schooling.eu or National Curriculum Outdoors websites Sorry I am unable to provide a live link for you due to TES site permissions! The handbook is free to download

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards supplement the set of 11 sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. This card shows how to tie a Tape Knot. A water or tape knot enables tubular webbing ends to be joined to make a circle, or to combine multiple webbing to increase the size of a circle. It is a strong join, yet easily undone, even if wet. Tubular webbing is used as it is soft, strong and can be washed. Now that you have turned the Raccoon Circle into a complete circle or loop using a water knot, you are ready to start exploring this amazing resource! Look for the Taking Maths Outdoors sets of cards. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards simply make use of tubular webbing tape as a number line, as a circle of commitment to answer questions and to define the learning area as the children get into groups to explore Number and Place value, Operations and mental methods - solving numeric problems including division / fractions of numbers. Whiteboards are also required. This is card set 10 of 11 (10/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of activities make use of tubular webbing tape as a sorting circle or series of circles for categorisation (Venn), to indicate a line or level (as in line or bar chart) and to make a circle forming a pie chart to represent data. This is set 11 of 11 (11/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of tubular webbing tape to define the working area and as a circle of commitment. It is also an ideal opportunity to assess for learning and understanding! This is card 9 of 11 (9/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at teamwork and team play website

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that use a length of tubular webbing tape as a base line, to estimate a height or length and also as a non-standard measure! This is card for 8 of 11 (8/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards make use of tubular webbing tape as a circle of commitment to show they know answers to questions, as a line on which to order the days of the week/months of the year or (with the addition of two sticks) models a clock-face. This is card 7 of 11 (7/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of tubular webbing tape as a physical representation of a vertical number line (or scale) . Whiteboards are also required. Please note that the photo shows the complete set of cards which are available to purchase directly from the Taking Maths Outdoors website. This post is to purchase a partial set of the cards; set 6 of 11 (6/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards make use of tubular webbing tape as a line and to demarcate the working area. Using their speaking and listening skills, partner-shared talk, discussion and teamwork, the children make and talk about calculating perimeter and area. This is set 5 of 11 (5/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of a length of tape and chalk, to create shapes and to demarcate the working area. Using their speaking and listening skills, partner-shared talk, discussion and teamwork, the children make shapes and talk about symmetry. This is set 4 of 11 (4/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activities can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards illustrate activities that simply make use of playground markings as a protractor or by using tubular webbing / raccoon tape, to approximate measures of degrees. This is set 3 of 11 (3/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great team building activities can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at teamwork and team play website.

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024) , these low resource task cards make use of tubular webbing tape both as a line and to demarcate the working area. Using their speaking and listening skills, partner-shared talk, discussion and teamwork, the children make and talk about 2D and 3D shapes using mathematical vocabulary. Techniques such as ‘walking the line’ empower the participants and demonstrate their understanding. This is set 2 of 11 (2/11) sets of Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing at the teamwork and team play website.

These tasks covering Position and Direction make use of tubular webbing, in the form of a circle, and a paved outdoor area, as a grid, to solve problems using team building, whilst using every day language to describe position, direction and movement. This is set one (1/11) of a set of 11 Taking Maths Outdoors’ cards covering Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards are in ‘Grab and Go’ format, with clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. All you will need is a length of tubular webbing tape, allowing 35-40cm per child, to create a visual line or circle for the children. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Many of these activities make use of ‘Raccoon Circles’ techniques and ideas. More great teambuilding activites can be found in The Revised and Expanded Book of Raccoon Circles, by Jim Cain and Tom Smith, Kendall/Hunt Publishers (2007) ISBN 978-0-7575-3265-8 or for a free download of activities on world wide webbing from the teamwork and team play website

Created by the co-author of Bloomsbury’s award winning National Curriculum Outdoors series of books and The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors (2024). This is the essential introductory card set for the Taking Maths Outdoors (TMO) cards. Based on ‘Raccoon Circles’, it introduces the techniques which are used throughout the TMO sets, which provide practical and fun teamwork activities to support Geometry, Measurement, Number activities and Statistics. The cards have clear instructions for the activities linked to NC 2014 Numeracy objectives by year group. If printed double sided, the objectives covered by the tasks are on the front, with the tasks and activities explained on the back. The cards are grouped by mathematical areas. Simply use the ideas for a mental oral starter, plenary or even a whole maths lesson. The activities can be done in small focus groups, or as a whole class and although they are designed for the outdoors and need space, they can be done where ever space is available. Low preparation and resourcing, all you will need is an 8m or 15m length of tubular webbing tape. The ideas are easily adapted, and before long you (and your class) will be able to use the techniques and invent new activities to make maths memorable! Links to the Raccoon Circles (Team work and Team Play) website are included. If you like the ideas go to the website to download a free pdf of Raccoon Circles games and team building activities.