BH girls in 4-EQ playing the multiplication beach ball game, May 2017.

[BLOG] BH GIRLS TAKE THE 30X30 NATURE CHALLENGE

By Emily Quinton ’11, Grade 4 Teacher

David Suzuki created a challenge for people around the world to fall in love with nature again! The 30x30 Nature Challenge involves spending 30 minutes a day outside for 30 days to reconnect people with nature. Grade 4 students at Balmoral Hall excitedly accepted this challenge, successfully completing it throughout the month of May.

Studies have shown that time, especially unstructured time, in natural settings outdoors can increase curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. Allowing for extra time outside can also improve children’s physical fitness and coordination. It is also likely to help them feel a closer connection to and love for nature, encouraging them to want to take action in the future.

For the 30 days outside in May, the students participated in a variety of activities. We kicked off the challenge in the back playground with a measuring nature scavenger hunt. Students searched the grounds for the desired items, measuring them in different units. Some days our time outside was spent quietly reading, sketching, or keeping field journals. Other days, a variety of math games were played outside, including the multiplication train game and multiplication with a beach ball. Twice in May, Grade 4s took their Junior Kindergarten buddies outside to read stories to them. In addition, 4-EQ and 4-ST classes spent two full days in May outside at FortWhyte Alive as part of their experiential learning program, which fit in perfectly with the challenge. Students spent time being birders, explorers, and critter dippers. They also learned about how they can be more environmentally friendly and what they can do to preserve nature.
 
On the weekends, with the help of their parents, students achieved their 30 minutes outside on their own. Every student has kept a nature journal throughout the process, keeping track of their time and adventures outside. Spending an extra 30 minutes outside every day has helped the Grade 4s feel happier, as well as healthier!
 
It has been a joy reaping nature’s benefits together.
Back

Balmoral Hall School

630 Westminster Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada  R3C 3S1
Tel: (204) 784-1600 | Fax: (204) 774-5534 | info@balmoralhall.ca
Charitable Registration No. 12994 3932 RR0001
Our mission at Balmoral Hall School is to inspire girls’ imagination and the courage to excel, to reach, to lead, to care.

We are a nondenominational independent day and boarding school, educating students from Junior Nursery to Grade 12.