Supporting outdoor learning
Island students are learning while outdoors and having fun at the same time thanks to more than 100 projects funded through new grants from the Department of Education and Early Years.
The Outdoor Learning Grants are funding all sorts of outdoor activities, including day trips, conservation projects, outdoor classrooms and play spaces, weather stations, school gardens and more. The goal is to help kids learn important skills while providing meaningful outdoor learning opportunities that transcend traditional classroom settings.
"We want every student to have the chance to explore nature and learn outside. With these grants, we want to help empower schools and teachers to create impactful outdoor learning experiences that inspire curiosity, foster environmental stewardship, and promote personal growth."
- Education and Early Years Minister Natalie Jameson
By supporting outdoor education, the province hopes to give kids the tools they need to become leaders in their communities and stewards of the environment. These opportunities for outdoor learning also build on the province’s commitment to promoting equity and inclusivity in education.
"We want to make sure that every student, no matter where they live gets to experience the joy of being outside," said Minister Jameson. “Through collaborative efforts with teachers and continued investment in outdoor education, we can cultivate a generation of future leaders who are deeply connected to their environment and appreciate the great outdoors.”
Media contact:
Autumn Tremere
Department of Education and Early Years
agtremere@gov.pe.ca
Backgrounder
All Island teachers within the public school system were given the opportunity to apply for the Outdoor Learning Grant in the fall of 2023. The following lists some of the projects funded through the grant program this school year:
| School | Outdoor Learning Experience |
| Cardigan Consolidated | Building an outdoor classroom |
| Westwood Primary | Butterfly Garden |
| Tignish Elementary | Tree planting & Maple tapping |
| M E. Callaghan | Outdoor garden boxes |
| Amherst Cove | Building lean-tos |
| Vernon River | Planting medicine wheel garden |
| M E. Callaghan | Outdoor art station |
| Parkdale Elementary | Snow fun toolboxes |
| Montague Consolidated | Outdoor microscopes & science manipulatives |
| Vernon River | Binoculars, bird houses, amphibian spaces as well as butterfly feeding stations |
| Eliot River | Weather stations: weather instruments, durable clipboards, durable maps and mapping tools and charts |
| Queen Elizabeth Elementary | Indigenous knowledge keeper experience at Lennox Island for land-based learning and bannock making |
| West Kent | Sleds, planting and gardening supplies, outdoor easels and art supplies |
| Southern Kings | Disc golf and geocaching GPS devices |
| Stratford Elementary | Prehistoric Island tours |
| Westisle Composite | Orienteering kits |
| Prince Street | Outdoor Mud Kitchen |
| Alberton Elementary | Construction site- play based manipulatives |
| Westwood Primary | Outdoor sensory space/wall to attach to our fence for our outdoor Kindergarten area to support students’ sensory preferences and needs |
| Central Queens | Resources and equipment for building ecosystems (ie. plants, containers, shovels, buckets, potting soil, strainers). Honorariums for members of the local Watershed program to visit our classroom |
| Three Oaks | Building raised garden beds and herb garden planning |
| Spring Park | Outdoor learning area with plenty of resources and materials to use year-round. Mud Kitchen and materials. Snow materials (shovels, scoops, snow forms). Tactile objects for the fence (musical instruments, sensory materials). Outdoor science/exploration materials (magnifying glasses/tweezers/droppers/jars) |
| Alberton Elementary | Outdoor music garden wall |
| Donagh Regional | Class set of compasses to facilitate outdoor mapping, orienteering, and navigation activities in line with the social studies curriculum, as well as cross curricular activities with Language Arts and Math. Set of binoculars and magnifying glasses to facilitate science activities on life cycles and environment |
| East Wiltshire | Materials for basic bushcraft skills which includes tying knots, building various types of shelters depending on the season, finding water for drinking along with how to filter and clean it. |
| Souris | Trip to Souris Ski trail for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. |
| Elm Street | Build an outdoor learning space. It would include an outdoor play kitchen, sensory path, elements of nature for exploration, and gardening. |