Rainy Day Outdoor Learning

Rain cancels more outdoor learning than any other factor, and most of those cancellations were not necessary.

What genuinely stops a session

Lightning. That is the list.

Not drizzle, not mud, not heavy rain, not cold. Those are clothing problems, and clothing problems are solved by a note home in September rather than a decision on the day.

Why rain is worth teaching in

Water behaviour is invisible on a dry day. In rain you can watch it run, pool, absorb, bead and drip, all in twenty minutes, across an area a child can walk. There are a few weeks a year where this is available and it is a waste to spend them indoors.

Four sessions that need rain

Follow the water from where it lands to where it goes. Mark the boundary of a puddle and return twice.

Compare a leaf that sheds water with one that holds it. Some surfaces are waxy and some are not, and the difference is visible and explainable.

Rank places by how loud the rain is. Under a metal roof, under a broad leaf, in the open, under dense canopy. It is a genuine acoustic comparison.

Measure it. A straight sided jar left out for an hour gives a number, and a fortnight of numbers gives a graph.

What makes it possible

A spare set of clothes at school for every child, and a note to families before the first session rather than after it. Every complaint we have received about wet clothes came from a family who had not been told.

Bare feet beat wet shoes. A covered outdoor area doubles what you can run.

Related

Outdoor Learning Through the Rainy Season covers the full season rather than one day.