No boring gray schoolyards with only stones. But places where exercise, nature, art and culture come together. Thirty schoolyards in Drenthe are being overhauled.
Green schoolyards already exist. But the plan of the province – together with organizations IVN Natuuronderwijs, SportDrenthe and the Art and Culture Drenthe foundation – goes further than that. The aim is not only to make the schoolyards greener, but also to convert them so that teachers can use the schoolyard as an outdoor classroom.
At the De IJsvogel child center in Meppel they are already working with a green schoolyard. An ‘amphitheatre’ has even been made so that lessons can also be given outside. Director Marieke Bonen is very pleased with it.
Since 2018, the primary school in Meppel has had an outdoor classroom. Bushes have been planted, there is a small discovery and adventure forest and a climbing tree where the youngest can enjoy themselves. “At the sandbox we made a crane so they can make mud,” Bonen continues. “And we’ve made elevations so it’s not just a standard flat square.”
On the wall of the school hang several surfaces that serve as a blackboard. “That’s great for the little ones who can just write. Then they can already write outside on the blackboard.”
In fact it is a real outdoor room, it is not for nothing that it has been given the name ‘amphitheatre’. A tarp can be pulled over it, so that everyone can sit comfortably in the shade. And seats are made against the plants. “We have placed stones around the planters so that the children can sit on them too.”
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