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August 8, 2024
Here at Alfresco Learning, we specialise in all things outdoor learning but everyone on our team was once a primary teacher too. So we know that at this time of year, it’s all about setting up your classroom space for the year ahead. This year we want to inspire you to bring a little bit of the outdoors in, so when the weather doesn’t play ball next year, you and your children can still benefit from nature’s health benefits inside the classroom too.
We’ve searched for some inspiring learning spaces and dug into our personal archives too, to bring you classrooms that all harness the benefits of nature to share with you. Scroll on to collect your natural classroom inspiration!
The science behind natural themed spaces
Before we dive in, let us just share a little bit of the science behind why a space incorporating nature makes an excellent environment for learning. The term to describe our brains’ love of nature is biophilia. Biophilia is our subconscious mind’s preference for a natural environment and it’s thought that this is due to the way humans have evolved from living surrounded by nature.
Think about it, until 100 years ago urban spaces didn’t exist. Our towns and villages were enveloped in nature and green spaces, and if we go back further into history our environment becomes more and more natural the further we go. Therefore, it is thought because urban spaces are new to human biology our minds function more efficiently in green spaces because on an evolutionary basis that is where we developed as a species. So many theories and studies back this up and show evidence of this. So if natural scenery equals optimal brain functioning, we really should be utilising nature to support our children in their classrooms . . .
How to bring more nature into your classroom
Indoor plants
Your mind probably jumped straight to indoor plants at the top of this article and you, my friend, would be quite right to think about them when creating a nature themed classroom! But one small plant in the corner isn’t going to have much of an effect on increasing the natural feel of your classroom, what you need is LOTS of plants!
For inspiration you have to check out @myeyfsroom every post is plants galore!!
If you’re not particularly green-fingered and you want some guidance on some low-maintenance plants we have another blog post containing a free guide to help you with just that!
Another way to bring plants indoors is to include some cut flowers every so often too. These could be shop-bought and placed in a vase on your desk, or if you are lucky enough to have a garden at home, consider taking a few cuttings from there too! They don’t have to be big, goregous blooms like @theartofearlyyears below, simple green foliage can be a beautiful touch too!
Scents
Nothing quite beats the smell of fresh air! Whilst you should endeavour to let fresh air into your room everyday to support everyone's health, it's not possible to leave the windows wide open all year round.
Another consideration for bringing nature indoors is using natural scents in the classroom. Now we don’t mean those plug-in air fresheners (which are full of harmful toxins and have nothing natural about them FYI), what we mean is delicate, natural scents. You could achieve this easily by adding some herbs to your plant collection. Basil, parsley, and thyme all thrive indoors! Placing them next to doorways will provide a gorgeous scent as people brush past. Alternatively, you could diffuse essential oils (just ensure you’ve done your research into which ones are safe for young children first).
Top tip if you decide to add herbs, they will need lots of watering, so make sure to assign some watering monitors to keep them off your to-do list!
Natural scenery
Hessian backgrounds are all the rage right now and they are lovely but they can be a little bland when they’re on every board.
Why not include some natural scenery as backing to your boards? Did you know that just looking at natural scenery alters the nuerones your brain fires?
This idea takes a little bit more work but the result is so worth it! If you use pins instead of blu-tac to attach your work to it, it will keep all year long. This one below is from our Co-Founder Hollie’s classroom and was reused for 3 years so it was well worth the effort!
We’ve shared some instructions on how to print large images as display backgrounds below. You will need Microsoft Publisher and the key to a none blurry image is to choose an image with a high pixel count. Once printed trim your edges and put it together like a jigsaw puzzle, staple it into a place and you are done!
For more details see how to print large images for display backgrounds.
Adding natural imagery through other display resources too will also help improve the natural feel of your classroom, just like @missgeyfs has done using @earlyyearsoutdoors resources in her maths display!
Consider the lighting
Having been in many different classrooms over the years we know the pains that windows can often present. From blinding sun, to sweltering heat, to that parent that just can’t help but smush their face up against the class window at the end of the day. It can be tempting to stick things all over the windows in a bid to solve these problems, but doing so blocks so much natural daylight that our bodies need to receive.
Also, did you know that children’s eyes need natural daylight to develop properly? The rising levels of myopia (short-sightedness) in children have been linked to the decreasing time spent outdoors as their developing eyesight actually needs direct sunlight. Plus, we feel much better when we’ve been in a light vs dark room. So what do we do to expand the daylight comfortably in the classroom?
One suggestion would be voiles or sheer curtains. These can diffuse glaring sunlight when needed whilst still letting plenty of light in and provide privacy from nosey parents, but they can also be pushed back and opened to let the light in fully. Plus they are so cheap! Just trim the bottom with a pair of scissors if they are too long, no sewing required. You will need a pole to put them on, so speak to your site manager to avoid causing any upset when installing one!
Consider emulating the element of fire too . . .
Now not literally, that’s not practical! But fire is a visual that invokes a calming state in humans so it’s worth thinking about how we can bring this into the classroom. You could have some battery-operated candles that flicker and mimic the effect of a flame. Placing these on tables during extended writing tasks can create a sense of focus in your room.
If your classroom is dark . . .
Consider adding plenty of reflective surfaces. Hanging mirrors on your displays or walls can bounce more natural daylight into your classroom and if you can place them to reflect scenes of any greenery from the outdoors to the indoors too then you’re onto a double bonus! Ask parents for donations of mirrors, or find cheap options at charity shops or on Facebook Marketplace.
Consider colours
The trend towards neutral classrooms isn’t going away and it was much needed to move on from overwhelming primary colous to make our learning environments more inclusive for our nuerodiverse children. But if you are looking to bring some elements of colour back into your classroom, turn to nature for inspiration.
Did you know that humans can see more shades of green than any other colour? It’s thought to be linked to our survival skills in identifying different plants for foraging. But green is also considered to be associated with calm and happiness in colour psychology - so why not utilise this in your classroom to bring a more natural feel to your indoor space using shades of green or other colours found in nature?
Natural resources and natural touches
There are endless ways to utilise nature in your classroom displays and environment, so to finish this blog post off we bring you some more inspiration from some more incredible accounts on instagram!
We love this inventive use of wood discs and sticks from @anideaontuesday
Laminating natural items helps them to last longer indoors. Make decorations like @inspiredlittlelearner or use natural items to display visual concepts like numbers & amounts in maths!
If you’re an Alfresco Hub member then you’ll be familiar with how we advocate using natural loose parts in our outdoor lesson plans. But they don’t just have to be for outdoor use, have collections of natural items for use indoors too!
Dowload free guide to collecting and storing natural loose parts