Celebrating Wales’ biggest classroom!

Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma.

Trees, meadows, rivers, streams, birds, plants, animals. These are not words that you’d normally associate with ‘classroom’. But right on our doorstep, we can find the biggest and the most exciting classroom of all. Between 1-7 April, we will be celebrating what our natural environment has to offer.

This year, Wales Council for Outdoor Learning are launching Wales Outdoor Learning Week - seven days of celebrating and promoting learning in our natural surroundings. Outdoor learning is simply taking time away from the usual classroom to go outside and learn. This can be anything from searching for different kinds of plants and animals, studying local geography or creating arts and crafts using natural materials.

Outdoor learning has a big role to play in the digital age that we live in. Many of us are glued to our screens; in our offices, homes and schools - we’re spending less and less time outside. Computers, smartphones and televisions have become part of our daily routine, making us less connected with nature. This is especially true for children. It’s a shocking fact that in Wales less than one in eight children have a reasonable connection with nature.

That’s why we’re celebrating learning outdoors this week, to show why spending time outside is so important. Having a close connection with nature helps our mental wellbeing and improves our understanding of the environment - a very important step if we are to look after our planet for our future generations. It’s also a great way of keeping fit, to learning practical skills, and a chance to communicate and solve problems in a slightly more exciting setting from the classroom.

There’s no reason not to take full advantage of the fantastic Welsh natural resources we have on our door step. Most of us have woodlands, mountains, lakes and rivers not that far from us, and of course hundreds of miles of beautiful beaches and rugged coastline. These are the perfect teaching resources, and they all help our children to reconnect with nature and wildlife. If our children feel more connected now, our planet will be saved for the future.

To find out more about outdoor learning activities at our reserves and visitor centres, visit the RSPB Reserves Directory, or to learn more about volunteering opportunities, events and free school outreach sessions on offer in Cardiff, visit our Giving Nature a Home in Cardiff partnership page.