Outdoor Classrooms

LEARN AND GROW OUTDOORS

At MMPS, we are committing to providing time for our students to learn and grow outdoors. Studies have shown the health benefits, both physical and mental, that children gain from spending time in nature. We have increased our outdoors time to make sure our students are benefitting from time outside. Children will get to experience different types of outdoor play in sun, rain, or snow. Outdoor play provides opportunities for students to develop problem solving skills and nurture a different type of creativity. MMPS' play-based curriculum supports learning through active play. These outdoor sensory and physical experiences are a valuable part of your child's learning and development.

According to the Child Mind Institute, the benefits of outdoor play include:

• Confidence: informal and less structured outdoor play means children learn to control their own actions.

• Creativity and imagination: with outdoor play children can think more freely, design their own activities, and approach the world in inventive ways.

• Responsibility: children learn to take care of the environment.

• More physical movement: some GPS studies show that kids outdoors move twice as much.

• More friendships – Creative play interactions with other children involve negotiating play rules, winning agreement on strategies, and celebrating results with team members.