Tips for Teaching Outdoors

Understand Your Audience

Prepare participants ahead of time about clothing, shoes, food and any personal items they should or should not bring.

Orient them to the site. Include starting and stopping points, where water and bathrooms are, landmarks and destinations. Provide maps if you are traveling out of sight of the starting point. Make sure to address basic needs and expectations, such as where you will start as well as where and when you will end. Tell them where and when there are bathroom breaks, water to drink, etc., and who to alert if they encounter a problem.

Be kind to your audience. Some in your group may have little or no experience exploring the outdoors and may be uncomfortable in this setting. Reassure them about any wildlife encounters. Some will be concerned that “tigers and lions and bears” are lurking and ready to pounce!

Safety First

Discuss safe behavior, expectations and outdoor ethics. Do they need to stay on a path? What about electronic equipment? May they collect items? Be sure to know the rules at the location you are visiting.

Will you be near water? Discuss water safety, including wading.

Show a picture of anything they should be avoiding, such as poison ivy. Enlist the help of the group to alert each other about these. Remind the group that they can have fun and easily avoid potential hazards.

Count noses before you go, then use a buddy system or divide the larger group into small groups. Instruct the group that at each stop along a hike or station in your learning experience, they are to be with their buddy or members of their group. Have a volunteer take an overall count periodically.

Agree upon a signal to regather as a group at a specific time or place.

Remind the group that if they cannot see you, they have gone too far.

Have your emergency plan in place before you go, including phone numbers and people in charge in case of a medical or weather emergency.

Identify group leaders by name and relevant information. Having identifiable caps, shirts or other visible cues for all leaders is best. If going out of sight in small groups, have at least two adults assigned to a youth group for safety and liability.

Engage Participants

Your goal should be an experience for everyone that is fun, relevant, flows well and is based on a theme.

Make it fun! Are there amazing facts and fun things to do and see? Speak with enthusiasm; it’s contagious! Fun helps learning!

Keep it relevant – what’s the big deal about why you are there or what you are learning? How does this relate to the lives of your audience?

Plan ahead. Have your activities, equipment and traffic flow organized ahead of time. Know how and where you want people to physically move through the experience. Do the activities need to be in a certain order for understanding? Will some activities take longer than others? Have back up plans for bad weather, missing or malfunctioning equipment, people arriving at different times, etc. Plan for the unexpected. This organization will ensure that participants are engaged and trusting of the experience. Sitting around while organizers are distracted and distraught will quickly derail the experience. Do plan for some play or unstructured time, too.

Use a theme. Themes are statements that provoke thought, reveal meaning and relationships and inspire participants toward their own personal truths. Themes will help you frame your comments and chose activities. Borrowing these examples from interpreter Sam Ham, compare working with the topic of “forest trees” to the theme “Nowhere is the mystery of nature’s design more apparent than in a forest,” or the topic “conservation” to the theme “The history of nature conservation is a story about villains, heroes and the will of a people.”

Encourage participants to ask questions and offer their thoughts. Acknowledge and verbally reward participation. Vary your questions, such as: What do you see? What comes to mind when you think of ____? What are some ways that _____? How does ____ compare to _____? Why do you think ____? What if ______?  

Assign participants specific tasks such as helping carry supplies or equipment.

Use activities that vary between group work and those done individually. Individual activities should be completed within a buddy system or small groups. Having some activities that are observations or personal responses assures that everyone has a chance to participate.

Recognize and use “teachable moments.”  Leaders don’t need to know everything and rarely do. Perhaps someone in the group has the answer to a question. Look up answers together either at the time or when you get back.

Leave the area better than you found it. Everyone should help clean up. Bring trash bags and offer a small prize or acknowledgement for the most collected.

Have participants help clean and pack supplies and equipment.

Reflection

Reflect on the experience as a group.

• What surprised you about this activity/experience?
• What worked well?
• What didn't’t work so well? What would you do differently?
• What might you tell others about what you learned?

Celebrate the experience with stories, snacks or pictures!