Outdoor Classroom Day

Resource type: Event

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, EYFS

Region(s): All of UK

Outdoor Classroom Day is a global movement to celebrate the wide-ranging benefits of outdoor learning and play. Outdoor Classroom Day takes place twice a year. In 2025, the first Outdoor Classroom Day takes place on 8th May and the second will take place on 6th November.

The Outdoor Classroom Day website offers a range of resources to support teachers interested in getting involved. These include:

A library of online guides on the benefits of outdoor learning and how to get involved with Outdoor Classroom Day.
A bank of free curriculum-linked activities for primary and secondary schools.
Posters, letter templates and resources to help raise awareness of Outdoor Classroom Day with your community.
An Outdoor Classroom Day certificate to download.

Cost: Free.

About Outdoor Classroom Day: The first Outdoor Classroom Day (originally known as Empty Classroom Day) took place in London in 2012. Now the world’s biggest celebration of outdoor play and learning, Outdoor Classroom Day is delivered in the UK and Ireland by Learning through Landscapes, the UK’s leading outdoor learning and play charity.

Further resources:

Download the National Literacy Trust’s free Hot Topic – Get Outdoors resource pack, containing book recommendations for pupils aged 4-14, adaptable writing activities, and ideas to promote oracy skills.
Find free outdoor lesson plans for EYFS, primary and secondary pupils that cover literacy and language and other areas of the curriculum on the Learning through Landscapes website.
Explore CLPE’s free teaching sequences created for a range of high-quality picture book on themes such as the urban environment, plants and trees, and animals and habitats. The teaching notes cover EYFS – KS2 and can be downloaded with a free introductory membership.
Download CLPE’s free teaching sequence for the 2023 CLiPPA-winning collection of nature-inspired poems, Marshmallow Clouds by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek. Suitable for pupils aged 5-9.
Hear poems on the theme of Nature read out loud on the Children’s Poetry Archive and explore the range of resources provided to support the teaching of poetry in primary and secondary classrooms.
Explore the fascinating world of plants and trees with this booklist of fiction and non-fiction titles for KS2 pupils from Books for Topics, learn about Growing Plants and Gardening, or celebrate the delights of the season with their Books About Summer list for younger readers.
Hoopla is a monthly magazine for 5-10 year olds covering art, nature, science and cooking, with lots of suggested open-air activities.