Provincial Intermediate and Middle Years Teachers' Association - myPITA
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Meaningful outdoor learning LESSON RESOURCES

Getting kids outside is essential for developing their understanding of the natural world. Plus, multiple studies have highlighted the positive benefits of spending time outside in reducing students’ stress and anxiety.
  • Lesson resources
  • Picture books and lesson plans
  • ​Podcasts
 

Lesson Resources

Please note that these resources are created and owned by third parties and may have been updated or altered since the resource was last reviewed. It is important that teachers use their professional judgement when assessing any resource for its applicability to the curriculum, their classroom and educational context, and the needs of their students. myPITA receives no financial benefit from use of these external resources.
Email [email protected] with your outdoor learning activities and book recommendations.
Ten tips for successful outdoor learning

Comprehensive teacher’s resource guide to getting your class outside PDF
Includes tip sheets about classroom management and planning, and easy-to-implement cross-curricular activities.

HCTF Education Resources
Searchable database of outdoor and place-based lessons and activities. 

SCIENCE
  • Go outside and ask, “What do you notice? What can you hypothesize about? What does this mean for our ecosystem?” 
  • BC Invasives Education Resources provides a searchable database of science and other curricular lessons for both indoors and outdoors. More invasive species lesson plans are coming this fall!

LANGUAGE ARTS
Nature-inspired writing
  • Write a descriptive paragraph about what you see.
  • Write a story about a plant or animal.  
  • Write a poem based on the five senses experienced in nature.
Storytelling and drama 
  • Perform short plays or scenes from longer dramatic works outside. Discuss how acting outside in a different setting impacts the performance.​

NATURE JOURNALING
Sit Spot - Begin by teaching students how to sit and enjoy nature. 
Nature journaling prompts and how to make your own nature journal 
Picture
A Butterfly is Patient and other titles
By Dianna Hutts Aston (Author), Sylvia Long (Illustrator)
Inspiration for nature journaling is any book by Diana Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long: A Butterfly Is Patient, An Egg Is Quiet, A Nest Is Noisy, A Rock Is Lively, A Seed Is Sleepy, and A Beetle Is Shy. 

Admire the observational and scientific detail in the drawings and writing. Not necessarily the easiest to read aloud from cover to cover because there is no rhyming scheme or rhythm to the prose, but these beautifully illustrated books show and tell insightful and informative information and offer a non-fiction alternative that will appeal to many learners. 
  • ​Butterfly is Patient lesson plan Science - Life cycles
  • An Egg is Quiet and A Seed is Sleepy teacher's guide
  • Teacher resource to use with multiple titles
  • Seed is Sleepy lesson plan

MATH
25 Outdoor Maths Games and Activities for All Ages 

ART
Emily Carr: Into the Forest 
Students are introduced to Emily Carr’s process by sketching outdoors and then, back in the classroom, creating a painting based on the sketch. 

MORE
More Free Fun Outdoor Learning, Games, and Projects 
 

Picture BOOKS

The following picture books can be used in any intermediate or middle years classroom to introduce, support and sustain, or as a final reflection.  Everyone enjoys being read a picture book.
Picture
Outside In 
​
By Deborah Underwood (Author), Cindy Derby (Illustrator)
A thought-provoking picture book that poetically underscores our powerful and enduring connection with nature, not so easily obscured by lives spent indoors.
​Discussion prompts and lesson ideas.

Picture
My First Book of Haiku Poetry
By Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen (Author), Tracy Gallup (Illustrator)
This award-winning book is an excellent introduction to this ancient form of poetry. Each poem is accompanied by a beautiful illustration that should inspire your students to write their haiku and accompanying drawing. Haiku writing lesson plan.  

Picture
Does Earth Feel? 
By Marc Majewski (Author, Illustrator)
Does Earth feel calm?
Does Earth feel curious?
Does Earth feel hurt?Does Earth feel heard?​

With spare prose and evocative paintings, author-illustrator Marc Majewski implores readers to think more deeply about what our only planet is telling us, ultimately asking—what do you want Earth to feel?

Picture
The Imaginary Garden - CANADIAN
By Andrew Larsen (Author), Irene Luxbacher (Illustrator)
A beautiful book to read aloud and great for showing the possibilities of accessing nature when you live in a city.
​Printable activity. 

Picture
This Land Is a Lullaby  - CANADIAN
By Tonya Simpson (Author), Delreé Dumont (Illustrator)
In this gentle picture-book lullaby, the sounds of the land soothe an Indigenous child to sleep on a stormy summer night on the Plains. An excellent book for exploring rhyming schemes.


Picture
Big City Bees - CANADIAN
By Maggie de Vries (Author), Renne Benoit (Illustrator) 
Explores the life cycle of pumpkins in an urban community garden and the importance of bees without feeling like it is teaching.
Plant Something Bee Friendly lesson plan - Intermediate 
Bee Helpers lesson plan and printable resources  



 

 

Podcasts

Earthy Chats: Cross-pollinating Enviro Ed Ideas
Wide-ranging chats with outdoor and environmental educators about best practices, changing trends, and new insights about the outdoor and environmental learning field.
Teach Outdoors
Teach Outdoors explores the benefits and challenges of bringing learning outside of the traditional classroom setting. 
Picture
The Provincial Intermediate and Middle Years Teachers' Association (myPITA)  is a Provincial Specialist Association (PSA) of the BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF)                   
​© 2025 Provincial Intermediate and Middle Years Teachers' Association

Please note that these resources are created and owned by third parties and may have been updated or altered since the resource was last reviewed. It is important that teachers use their professional judgement when assessing any resource for its applicability to the curriculum, their classroom and educational context, and the needs of their students. myPITA receives no financial benefit from use of these external resources.
                                                  
  • Home
  • CONFERENCES
    • Conferences
    • Past Conferences
  • RESOURCES
    • Resources
    • Conflict Resolution
    • Empathy
    • Government, Elections, and Democracy
    • Conference Presenter Resources
    • Dr. Gabor Maté
    • Building Math Confidence
    • Literature Circles
    • Brain Breaks
    • Mental Health
    • Movement Breaks
    • Physical Literacy
    • Indigenous Learning Resources
    • Math Resources
    • Novel Resources (Members Only)
    • Outdoor Learning
    • StartUP! your class
    • French Imm. Resources >
      • Moving beyond il and elle gender neutral pronouns for Core French
    • Drama Resources
    • Useful Links
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • Membership
    • Operations (members only)
  • NEWSLETTERS
    • Newsletters
    • Newsletters (Members Only)
  • About
    • Members Grant
    • Partnership Grant
  • Contact
  • Teacher Talk