Welcome to Gateway to Green’s outdoor learning space resources library designed to help schools and school districts across Pennsylvania implement outdoor learning projects. Explore our resource library by topic and discover useful guides, videos, websites, articles, and more.
Do you have a resource that would be helpful to include in the library? Please send it to educationprograms@stroudcenter.org!
Designing, Building, and Maintaining Outdoor Learning Spaces
Getting Started
Design Tools
- Schoolyard Infrastructure Start-Up Toolkit: Outdoor Learning Diagram (Green Schoolyards America): Google Slides | PowerPoint | PDF
Build
Maintenance
Danks, S. G. (2010). Asphalt to Ecosystems: Design Ideas for Schoolyard Transformation. New Village Press.
Broda, H. W. (2011). Moving the Classroom Outdoors: Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning in Action. Stenhouse Publishers.
Tai, L., Haque, M., McClellan, G., & Knight, E. (2006). Designing Outdoor Environments for Children: Landscaping School Yards, Gardens and Playgrounds. McGraw Hill.
Triniste, N. (2019). Nature Play at Home: Creating Outdoor Spaces that Connect Children with the Natural World. Timber Press.
Daly, L. (2022). Transforming Your Outdoor Early Learning Environment. Redleaf Press.
- Preschool Outdoor Play and Learning Environments: Best Practice Toolkit (Natural Learning Initiative)
- Campus Assessment Tool for Outdoor Learning Infrastructure (Green Schoolyards America)
- Outdoor Infrastructure Planning Strategies for Taking Learning Outside (Green Schoolyards America)
- Transforming Philadelphia’s Schoolyards (Philadelphia Water Department)
- Schoolyard Report Card (Chesapeake Bay Foundation)
Accessibility, Equity, and Inclusion
- ADA Standards for Accessible Design: Minimum requirements for newly designed and constructed or altered facilities to be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.
- Trails for All People: A guide to help trail groups, local governments, and land trusts responsibly plan, develop, and operate trails accessible by all people, including those with limited mobility.
Benefits: Learning, Health, and Wellbeing
Latané, C. (2021). Schools That Heal: Design With Mental Health in Mind. Island Press.
Hanscom, A. J., & Louv, R. (2016). Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children. New Harbinger Publications.
Roost, J. (2016). Nature as Therapy: Using the Great Outdoors as a Therapeutic and Educational Tool. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Fisher, C. (2019). Mindfulness & Nature-Based Therapeutic Techniques for Children: Creative Activities for Emotion Regulation, Resilience and Connectedness. Pesi Publishing & Media.
Louv, R. (2016). Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life. Algonquin Books.
Conservation
Plants
- 20 Ways to Protect Your Stream & Your Streamside Property (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection)
Soil
Water
- Implementing Green Stormwater Infrastructure on Schoolyards (The Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange)
- Guidelines for Maintaining Streams in Your Community (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection)
- Green City, Clean Waters: Green Schoolyards for Stormwater Management (Philadelphia Water Department)
- Guide to Green Stormwater Infrastructure (Brandywine Conservancy and Brandywine Red Clay Alliance)
Wildlife
Tallamy, D. (2020). Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard. Timber Press.
Tallamy, D. (2009). Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife With Native Plants. Timber Press.
Darke, R., & Tallamy, D. W. (2015). The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden. Timber Press.
- Garden for Wildlife (National Wildlife Federation)
- Habitat Gardening for Wildlife (Virginia Cooperative Extension)
- Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
- Schoolyard Habitat Project Guide (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
- Schoolyard Habitat Planning Guide (National Wildlife Federation)
Funding
- Outdoor Classroom Infrastructure Cost Calculator [EXCEL] (Green Schoolyards America)
Teaching Outdoors
Broda, H. W. (2006). Schoolyard-Enhanced Learning: Using the Outdoors as an Instructional Tool, K-8. Stenhouse Publishers.
- Best Practices for Teaching in the School Garden (Education Outside)
- International School Grounds Month Activity Guide (International School Grounds Alliance)
- Living Schoolyard Activity Guide (Green Schoolyards America)
- Guidelines for Excellence (North American Association for Environmental Education)
- Nature Play at Home: A Guide for Boosting Your Children’s Healthy Development and Creativity (National Wildlife Federation and Natural Learning Initiative)
