May has been designated by the International School Grounds Alliance as International School Grounds Month. Quoting from its website, “The non-profit INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL GROUNDS ALLIANCE (ISGA) is a global network of organizations working to enrich children’s learning and play through improving the way school grounds are designed and used.”

The organization is providing a free 28 page activity guide that showcases activities for a variety of age levels and content areas. Contributors to the guide are from around the world. Use the link below to download your copy:

http://greenschoolyards.org/home/international_school_grounds_month

International School Grounds Month provides an excellent opportunity for showcasing the various types of outdoor learning opportunities that take place on your school site. Too often I see schools utilizing the school grounds for an array of powerful learning activities, but the community beyond the school is often unaware. Feature a picture of outdoor learning on your school’s website in May. Also, many smaller local weekly “shopper” papers are often very eager for positive news items — see if an article can appear about how your school utilizes the outdoors to enrich instruction.