For Kindergarten and Grade One students in Blaine Lake, part of their day is spent outside. It’s not recess, it’s outdoor play-based learning called Forest School.

One of the teachers at the Prairie Spirit School Division school, Denise Heppner, says the students decide what they want to do outside, and then the teacher fills in the learning experience.

For example, they may decide to pretend they are bears in a den, or they want to build a spaceship, or become a family of dragons. While they are playing, the teacher can lead them in new vocabulary and, as an example with the bears, talk about hibernation, bear habitat, and the seasons. Heppner adds that the students can become so enthused, they will go home and learn more about whatever their topic of the day was.

Teacher Tirzah  Reilkoff says, “It has been my single-most joy in teaching – having kids outside and playing with them and watching them play and learn.” She believes the students are more engaged when they are playing, rather than sitting at a desk.

This play-based learning receives support from the McDowell Foundation, which provides funding grants for teacher-led research in Saskatchewan.