Kids love maps! We have a new schoolyard curriculum and outdoor activity guide in the works and with it, we hope to uplift Indigenous wisdom, encourage outdoor learning and climate literacy, and integrate schoolyard stewardship efforts. It felt important to leave a lot of room within the the lessons to be a kid: to ponder, daydream, tap into our senses and see things from a new perspective. One lesson will even encourage cloud watching as students reflect on the concepts of borders, fences, and systems.
Students get to then think about how and why borders are drawn on maps, what do maps tell us about how the world works? Who does their schoolyard belong to? What visitors can come and go as they please? What changes if we make our own maps on what really matters to us?
During out student participatory design process, students assess their site conditions by creating a base map, measuring their yard, and mapping the “7 S’s”: Shape, Size, Sun/Shade, Slope, Site History, and Surroundings/Sound. This sets them up to be experts in where to put a garden, sports fields, and green infrastructure for capturing storm water.
But the research and reflection doesn’t stop there: students also reflect on how they and their community already use the yard. What games are played? What do people like doing? Where do kids like to hang out? We give them a chance to map all the things that only a frequent-user of the space could know. Here’s an example of the social-mapping that comes out of their design process and informs their new schoolyard design:
We recommend letting students explore maps and follow their curiosities and then make their own map of the schoolyard, deciding what features are most important to them to include.
Here’s a list of maps for kids to consider and explore: