Playgrounds are more than just places to run and play — they can be vibrant spaces for learning, discovery and connection with the natural world. Schools that design their outdoor areas with care can transform and elevate children’s everyday experiences. You may have heard of green schoolyards — the term for bringing playgrounds to life through nature — but why are they important, and how are real schools using this principle?

What Are Green Schoolyards?

Traditional schoolyards are typically expanses of asphalt, designed for exercise, sports and school games, perhaps with some basic playground equipment. Green schoolyards are nature-rich with elements such as trees, shrubs, gardens, ponds and natural play materials. They provide shade, attract pollinators or wildlife, absorb stormwater and connect students with nature. 

With schools increasingly prioritizing environmental education, transforming playgrounds into rich, multisensory learning areas is a logical step. 

The Benefits of Outdoor Classrooms for Schools

Many studies have illustrated the wide-ranging benefits of outdoor spaces for children of all ages. The cognitive, health and social-emotional impacts include:

• Better attention and working memory
• Improved mood
• Lower fatigue and stress
• Enhanced social and critical thinking skills
• Better behavior
• Improved self-regulation

Additionally, school communities benefit from carbon sequestration, rainwater harvesting and management, food sustainability from vegetable gardens, and better climate resilience. It is estimated a green schoolyard can return $3 for every $1 investment. 

What Are Examples of Green Spaces in Schools?

There are many different ways an institution can create or maximize its use of green spaces. For many, this will mean turning an existing playground into a living, thriving area. Others may focus on an existing sports field, create a vegetable or pollinator garden, incorporate a green roof or use nearby woodland. Some are even planting Miyawaki forests — tiny forests that thrive in spaces as small as six or seven parking spaces and mature 10 times faster than natural growth. 

The most successful green schoolyards incorporate these three important elements:

1. Native Species and Sustainable Materials

Native plants and tree species are perfectly adapted to the school’s home environment, so they will thrive easily without needing excessive water, fertilizer or pesticides. This eco-friendly practice will naturally attract local pollinators and wildlife. Local plants can also evoke a sense of place and heritage, connecting children directly to their location.

A prime example is the International Community School and Think College Now Elementary School Cesar Chavez Campus in Oakland, California. It transformed its asphalt outside space to a green haven with native planting, 64 new shade trees, a dry creek bed to capture stormwater, an orchard, a nature playground and a learning garden with raised beds for vegetables.  

Institutions can further reduce their environmental footprint by selecting sustainable playground surfacing. For example, recycled rubber surfaces divert tires from landfills each year, which can make them a practical and environmentally responsible choice. 

2. Educational Signage

Good, imaginative signage can greatly enhance children’s learning opportunities. Tree or plant identification signs can provide information about their botany, ecology or cultural value. Other panels can explain different habitats, show insect identification aids or form part of a guided trail through the schoolyard. 

Signs can also be used to support positive values and stewardship, or to encourage an outdoor element in diverse curriculum areas. For example, a “poetree” could become a focus for language arts classes covering poetry. 

Children focus and concentrate better when they are outside, and research shows they also retain information better. Therefore, educational signage is a key element of the successful green schoolyard. 

At the Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy in Chicago, a former brownfield site became a biology garden, vegetable beds, an outdoor classroom and rain gardens, with green building roofs. Throughout, educational signs help children learn about the water cycle, water conservation, native plants and the prairie ecosystem.

3. Sensory Play

Green schoolyards are a golden opportunity to increase engagement for diverse learners. Using trees, plants and natural features with different textures, colors, sounds and movement is vital for accessibility and a calming environment. Sensory areas encourage children to spend more time outdoors, which is linked to lower levels of depression and anxiety, as well as improved physical activity levels. 

The ELS Center of Excellence in Jupiter, Florida, is home to the Learning Academy, a charter school for children with autism spectrum disorder. It showcases an exemplary sensory arts garden that fully reflects the green schoolyard ethos. 

The garden features different “rooms” targeting various senses. There are musical instruments, water features and a water wall, as well as learning spaces and sections dedicated to socializing, yoga or storytelling. It has proven extremely popular and is open to the public after hours. 

Green Schoolyards — Where Learning Takes Root

Outdoor classrooms and green schoolyards invite students to learn, play and grow in harmony with nature. By reimagining their exteriors, schools can inspire curiosity and care for the natural world. Support these efforts in your local community if you can — because every step toward a greener playground is a step toward a brighter, more connected future for the next generation.