BY SASHA ROGELBERG
A t Maydale Nature Classroom, children who visit campus
will hear the sounds of the green frogs, tree frogs and bull-
frogs and see the gnawed-on tree trunks of a beaver who
made its lodge by the nearby stream.

A delight to the senses, being surrounded with nature is
more than just fun and engaging; it’s an opportunity for educa-
tion and growth.

“It helps [kids] understand the environment around them
and make educated decisions on environmental issues,” says
Glenn Rice, a park naturalist at the Montgomery County Parks
Department. “It just allows them to connect to this local envi-
ronment—the natural local environment.”
Maydale, in Colesville, Maryland, is part of the Montgomery
Parks system in Montgomery County.

Constructed in 2019, it’s one of five facilities in the Montgom-
ery Parks system that provide opportunities for learning outside
the traditional four-walled school building. Maydale invites stu-
dents, Boy and Girl Scouts and even homeschooled children for
a day of learning.

Their day begins indoors with an overview on a topic like
habitats and ends with a long hike outdoors, student and
teacher interaction and the opportunity to look at various
habitats in real environments.

This is the kind of hands-on, real-world experience students
react to with “interest and excitement,” Rice says.

What are the benefits to outdoor learning?
Beyond Maydale, enthusiastic learners are enjoying outdoor
classrooms and learning experiences all over the DMV. The
benefits of the unconventional model are plentiful.

14 Washington FAMILY
MARCH 2023
PLANTS: LIGRENOK/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS;
Outdoor Education
Programs Offer Benefits
to Children
Creek cleanup with Rooted Nature OT
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROOTED NATURE OT
The Classroom Outside
of Four Walls



Academic stimulation
First, there are educational benefits that come from simply being
in an outdoor space.

“Being outside helps you lower your heart rate, increases your
focus, and those things help children perform better academically,”
said Rose Brusaferro, preschool director of the Nature Forward
Nature Preschool in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

At Nature Forward, kids explore 40 acres of woods and greenery,
observing how different plant and animal life interact. The groups
also help identify birds as part of the Great Backyard Bird Count,
a global program to find and report birds in order to better estimate
their population and migration patterns.

Little minds begin to turn as children explore different spaces.

Outdoor learning programs are designed using Montessori,
Waldorf and Reggio Emilia pedagogies, which prioritize creative
play and independence.

“The primary philosophy is to help children find the joy in
learning by allowing them the freedom and the space to connect
with the concepts and ideas that speak to them,” Brusaferro says.

Healthy Kids
Outdoor learning also has just as much benefit for the body as
it does the mind.

“Just being outside in general and being out in nature has a
lot of health benefits. It’s good exercise,” Rice says. “Contact
with nature improves your physical and mental wellbeing, so it
increases the ability of your immune system to fight off sickness,”
adds Brusaferro.

Connection with nature
PHOTOS: TOP C/O ROOTED NATURE OT; BOTTOM: C/O MONTGOMERY PARKS
Being outside also connects kids with their surroundings in a
positive way.

Crossing the creek with Rooted Nature OT
Consistent, uninterrupted interactions with the outdoors can
lead to the creation of an “ecological identity,” which instills values
of environmental protection.

Because this type of education increases awareness of the rela-
tionship between humans and the environment, any of the outdoor
learning classrooms have an ecological component built into
their programs.

“There’s also a philosophical hope that by being outside and
connecting to nature every day, children will begin to form a
bond with the natural world that will develop into environmental
action,” Brusaferro says.

At Maydale Nature Classroom, the indoor space where children
convene for the first part of their lessons is a repurposed administrative
building, which, according to Rice, helped keep 7,000 pounds of waste
from entering a landfill. The space is solar-powered and uses a rainwater
harvesting system to collect water to use for the building’s plumbing.

The deepened connection between children and the environ-
ment can serve more than just eco-friendly causes. According to Mya
Maydale’s Groundhog Day Celebration 2022
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