We've lots of information here on our own site, including a poster for school pupils. But we've also brought together other online resources with a focus on outdoor, land-based and STEM education.
Although COVID restrictions have lifted, these resources could still help parents and guardians in supporting their children's learning.
| Countryside Classroom helps to find resources and support relating to the themes of food, farming and the natural environment. The website contains a range of quality assured educational content from hundreds of contributors. | |
| Outdoor and Woodland Learning Scotland | OWL Scotland is dedicated to increasing the use of Scotland's outdoor environments for learning, with aims of improving health and wellbeing through outdoor learning and increasing skills, knowledge and understanding of outdoor environments. This site has a wide range of learning resources available for all ages. |
| Woodland Trust – Tree Tools for Schools | Woodland Trust have a great deal of activities and interactive resources through their Tree Tools for Schools website, and also nature activities for children to do at home through their blog pages. |
| RHET Learning Resources Portal | RHET have created a learning resources portal, which links to a range of resources from a variety of sources supporting food, farming and STEM education delivery at all Curriculum for Excellence levels. There are presentations, handouts, activities and lots more to engage learners all in one place. |
| NFU/Eat Farm Now “Lockdown Learning” Initiative | Provides exciting educational farming activities and videos for children while they are away from school, helping to build their knowledge of science and technology alongside learning all about food production. Children will hear first-hand about how their food gets from farm to fork, with well-known farming faces such as Countryfile’s Adam Henson and TV presenter Jimmy Doherty documenting their farming journey through online videos and social media. |
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Royal Horticultural Society’s Campaign for School Gardening Resources |
The RHS Campaign for School Gardening supports schools to provide children with gardening opportunities to enhance their skills and boost their development. The site has a variety of free downloadable resources with practical activities, challenges and information sheets that can be used for home gardens. |
| SSPCA - Animal WISE |
Scottish SPCA’s new education programme Animal WISE aims to enhance young people’s literacy and numeracy skills, introduce innovative ways to engage with STEM and inspire future career pathways. |
| Scottish Fisheries Museum - Sea Change Exhibition | To celebrate the Year of Coasts and Waters, the Scottish Fisheries Museum looks to the future to explore what the seas and the fishing industry will be like 50 years from now. They have worked with partners from across the fishing industry and marine science to create the exhibition, as well as family-friendly activity ideas, online resources and interesting links. Scottish Fisheries Museum have also added 'Teach me Tuesday' videos to their Facebook page where you can learn a new skill, such as knot tying or making a jellyfish out of a plastic bottle! |
| Field Studies Council - Activities | In light of school closures, Field Studies Council have created some simple resources to support teachers and parents and continue to promote outdoor learning for children (Primary level) |
| RSPB – Fun & Learning (including Wild Challenges) | RSPB have loads of great games, activities and resources to help young people and families connect with nature. |
| Learning Through Landscapes – Outdoor Learning Ideas | Learning Through Landscapes website has developed outdoor learning ideas with teachers which enable young people to connect with nature, be more active and increase engagement with learning. During the restrictions, they have virtual forums to guide families on outdoor learning, accessible via Facebook; for more information visit their website. |
| Canal and River Trust - Explorers | The Canal & River Trust is the charity who look after 2,000 miles of UK waterways. 'Explorers' is the Trust's education programme aimed at children aged 5-11, connecting them to canals and rivers by sharing activities that encourage children to watch, read, play and create as they learn from home. |
| Okido Magazine – Okido for Home Schooling | Okido Magazine is an independent publication started in Brixton in 2007, whose founders wanted the engage children in the scientific world around them using play, art and fun. Okido have created a variety of learn-through-play STEM workshops that can be downloaded for use in home-schooling. |
| Twinkl – School Closure Resources Scotland |
Twinkl website has over 650,000 resources, planning and assessment materials from Early Years right up to Secondary level - the link provided takes you straight to the resources for students working on Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence. Twinkl are offering a free month of their ultimate subscription due to the school closures. You can sign up here and use the offer code UKTWINKLHELPS to access your free month subscription. |
| GrowVeg – Fun Garden Activities for Kids (YouTube Link) | GrowVeg.com is run by Growing Interactive, a UK-based company providing gardening planning support through apps. This video offers a base for home-schooling lessons, art projects, nature exploration and healthy exercise. |
| Edinburgh University - Centre for Research Collection Flickr | Edinburgh University have resources from their Centre for Research Collections available to look through on their Flickr, featuring a range of historical images, maps and texts. The Roslin Glass Slide Collection has some fantastic images of farming and animals from the archives of The Roslin Institute. |
| The Wildlife Trusts - 30 Days Wild |
This June, join thousands of people taking part in The Wildlife Trusts' annual nature challenge, 30 Days Wild! Download a free pack of goodies to help you plan a Random Act of Wildness a day for the whole month, plus lots of ideas to inspire you to stay wild throughout June and beyond! For extra ‘bonus’ items, keep an eye on emails for additional, fun activities, such as a beginner’s guide to wildlife photography. |
| Highland Primary Science - STEM Activities | Highland STEM have worked with Science Skills Academy and UHI STEM team to create downloadable activities around 8 STEM topics for 1st and 2nd CfE Levels (Primary 2-4 and Primary 5-7). Topics include plant biology, staying healthy and garden wildlife. |
| Lucy Scott Illustration - Tree Colouring Sheet | Lucy is a freelance illustrator based in London. She creates fantastic nature-themed drawings and has made four colouring sheets on tree varieties - click on the sheet which you would like to download and then print! |
| Zoos and Animal Parks – Webcams and Activities |
Various zoos and animal parks engage with young people online:
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| Edinburgh Science Festival and Science Centres – Resources |
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| Garden Buildings Direct | Eco-friendly plants for your garden |
| Future Learn courses |
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* Lantra Scotland has no control over the nature, content and availability of any sites we have linked to, and including these links does not imply an endorsement of views expressed in them.