Take Me Outside Day 2021

Thank you so much to everyone for participating in Take Me Outside Day 2021.

Take Me Outside Day helps to raise awareness about outdoor learning by encouraging teachers to take their students outside. In 2021, we had 8,900 educators and nearly 400,000 learners across the country join us – amazing!

2021 marked the 11th annual Take Me Outside Day and we kicked it up a notch! In partnership with the Outdoor Learning Store and MEC, we hosted a full week of speakers, activities and events for students from October 18-22. We deepened our connections with Indigenous perspectives, strengthened our health and well-being with outdoor learning, and increased our knowledge on climate change and the environment. Check out our Impact Report, and all of our recordings posted below, including our chat with Dr. Jane Goodall!

 

Here’s everything that happened the week of Take Me Outside Day 2021:

We encourage you to begin your time outside by acknowledging the land you are on to connect the presence and land stewardship of Indigenous people to the nature you and your students are spending time in. You can find further information on land/territory acknowledgements here.

Monday October 18 – Indigenous Knowledge

“All My Relations” (Grades 7-12)

Join Mi’kmaw speaker Carolynne Crawley as she discusses our connections to the land and how we can spend time learning on it. Carolynne is passionate about reconnecting people with the land, waters, and all beings as there is no separation between us. For more information on Carolynne, please click here.

“Taking Care of Our Mother Earth” Storytelling (Grades 1-6)

Strong Nations Author Celestine Aleck follows as she tells the Coast Salish story of how each family played a traditional role in taking care of our Mother Earth. From controlled burning to ethical hunting and fishing practices, the Coast Salish people were, and still are, taught by their elders to respect Mother Earth. For more information on Celestine, please click here.

“From Acknowledgement to Action: Connecting to the Land through Natural Curiosity for all educators”

This workshop by Natural Curiosity will help engage educators in some of the work around Indigenous Knowledge. Educators are encouraged to join this workshop to learn more about and engage in teaching through environmental inquiry, and consider the importance of Indigenous perspectives in environmental and all learning.

For activities on the topic of Indigenous Knowledge, please click here!

Tuesday October 19 – Health and Wellbeing

Canadian Olympic Athlete Panel (All Grades)

Join a panel of 4-5 Canadian Olympic Athletes to discuss their connection with the outdoors and how it affects their physical and mental health. They will be answering student questions as well! To find out who will be joining this panel, click here.

Guided Yoga (Grades 3-6; Grades 7-12)

Get movin’ with guided yoga sessions led by Sarah Satya Caranci of Satya Studios. Sarah has been teaching youth yoga for over 14 years and her hope is to inspire young minds to work together in creating a peaceful world. For more information on Sarah, please click here.

Grades 3-6:

Grades 7-12:

Great Minds Think Outside: Bring Your Students Outside – Any Age or Subject!

Gain the skills and confidence for teaching outdoors with New Brunswick Environmental Network! In this 2 hour session, educators will learn how to incorporate curriculum into outdoor learning year-round. Note that this is an interactive, discussion-based workshop that includes an outdoor component from wherever you are tuning in from – so be prepared to go outside, regardless of the weather! The trainers will cover the benefits of teaching outside, all the how-to questions and safety issues, and demonstrate how any and all learning outcomes can be met outside, with a little creativity. Educators will also leave the workshop with access to a resource bank and searchable directory of vetted lesson plans in all ages or subjects. 

 

For activities on the topic of Health and the Outdoors, click here!

Wednesday October 20 – Take Me Outside Day

Take your learning outdoors! We encourage educators to spend 1 hour outside with their students learning, playing, and inquiring about nature and the great outdoors! Share your impact with us and over 250,000 students going outside on Wednesday Oct 20 across the country: use our hashtag! #TakeMeOutsideDay

Environmental Sing Along (Grades 1-6)

Join Remy Rodden as our Musical Guest! Sing along to songs that emphasize our connection to nature, and the interconnectedness of all living things. For more information on Remy, click here.

Thursday October 21 – Environmental and Climate Change Education

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jane Goodall (All Grades)

Photo Credit:  Katherine Holland

We’re excited to offer a live inspirational talk and Q&A with Dr. Jane Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada.

Dr. Jane Goodall DBE is an ethologist and environmentalist, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Through 60 years of ground-breaking work, she has not only shown us the urgent need to protect chimpanzees from extinction; she has also redefined species conservation to include the needs of local people and the environment. For more information on Dr. Goodall, click here.

  • Outdoor Activities with Green Learning

Click on the recorded activities below to engage students in Environmental and Climate Change Education  leading up to TMO Day:

Speak for the Trees

Closing the Loop on Plastic

For more info on Green Learning, click here.

Water testing with Water Rangers

Water Rangers just launched they new Education Testkit which is specifically designed to help teachers become experts in water testing, while giving youth hands-on experiences by the water.

More information on Water Rangers, click here.

For activities on Environmental and Climate Change Education, click here!

Friday October 22

Teachers were encouraged to spend this day reflecting on the activities throughout the week that connected their class to the outdoors. Suggested activities included journaling or playing show and tell with students to get them to reflect on how outdoor learning impact them. For more activity ideas, click here!

Follow or use our hashtag #TakeMeOutside to view and share pictures, videos and stories from the day!

To carry your commitment to outdoor learning forward, click here for our resources related to all our themes that can help!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Outdoor Learning

We are committed to creating a future for outdoor learning where diversity, equity, and inclusion are fundamental and foundational pieces that illuminate the beauty and strength of our learning communities. We recognize, as individuals and as a collective, that not every school-aged child in Canada has equal opportunity to engage in outdoor learning at present. We also recognize that not all educators have equal opportunity or experience with taking learning outdoors, due to a wide variety of barriers. We envision a future where every school-aged child and every educator feels welcome learning outdoors.

Part of our commitment to this work in the realm of outdoor learning is to further support and educate our community on strategies to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into outdoor learning, and further into all educational practices.

We are developing a new section of our website here where you will find tools and resources to assist you in making sure your outdoor learning can address issues of race, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientation, accessibility needs, and other marginalized identities.

Check out all the schools across the country participating in TMO Day!

Thanks to our partners for their ongoing support

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT TAKE ME OUTSIDE DAY

A huge thanks to Grade 3/4 students at Richard Secord School for showing us why #TakeMeOutsideDay is so important – great work!


 

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