Why Outside?

We are learning to take part in active time in a natural setting, record how our body and mood feel before and after, and explain why being active outdoors is worth planning for.

Before you startAbout 70 minutes · what success looks like · notes for the helper

About 70 minutes. It's fine to stop after the Quick Check and come back another day: the lesson opens where you left it, at the Quick Check.

You'll know you've got it when

I can record how my body and mood feel before and after being active, using a 1-to-5 scale and body words, and work out the change
I can compare my active-time notes with notes from a typical sit-down afternoon, and say what the notes show and what they cannot show
I can explain at least two ways being active in a natural setting can support health and wellbeing
I can say what sedentary behaviour is and propose two strategies to reduce it in my own week

For the helperhow to sit beside this lesson, and what this step is for

This step: Spark

Start with the question at the top and chat about it. There is no wrong answer here: it gets your learner thinking about what they already know.

Getting ready: A green space you can reach together (a park, a quiet tree-lined street, a bush track or a big backyard), hats, sunscreen, water, closed shoes, and paper and a pencil for the notes. You might walk the area first to look for broken glass, ants' nests, snakes and water edges; this lesson touches on mood, so you might preview it and adapt it to your family's values. The whole lesson takes about 70 minutes, including the 20-minute walk or game; a natural break is after the check, with the outing and the notes the next day.
What understanding sounds like: Listen for your child using their numbers and body words as evidence ('my mood went up two, and I was warm and loose') and for careful phrases like 'on these two days' and 'it might be'. A child who says 'I can't be sure from one go' is thinking like a scientist.
A likely mix-up, and something that helps: A common idea is that one good walk proves outdoors always lifts mood, or the opposite, that feelings are only opinions and prove nothing. You might ask, 'What else was different on those two afternoons?' and 'What could we do to be more sure?'
If it comes easily: To stretch it, you might invite your child to design a fairer test, such as three outdoor and three indoor afternoons at the same time of day, and to say what they would still not be able to claim.
If it's a struggle: If it is a struggle, one way is to keep the notes to just the mood number and one body word, and to do the walk first and the writing straight after. If your child's notes ever show a low mood that lasts, a trusted adult can listen, and Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) is free for children to call. If your child would rather not go out today, a few minutes in the backyard or at an open window still gives them a before-and-after to note.

Step 1 of 6 · Spark

Lesson 1 of 5 · Into the Outdoors: Planning Active Days in Nature

Two Tuesday afternoons

For the helper

Start with the question at the top and chat about it. There is no wrong answer here: it gets your learner thinking about what they already know.

Two Tuesday afternoons, one eleven-year-old called Ella. On the first, she gets home at half past three, drops her bag, flops on the couch and watches screens until tea. By five she feels flat, her neck is stiff, and she snaps at her brother over nothing. On the second Tuesday she walks to the park with her cousin, plays handball against the brick wall, climbs the low hill and walks home the long way. By five she is warm, a bit puffed and, strangely, cheerful. Same girl, same week, same dinner. So what made the difference? The activity? The park? Her cousin? The weather? Or just luck? A scientist would not guess. A scientist would record how things feel before and after, repeat it, and only then say what the evidence shows. Today you are the scientist and the subject, and your lab notebook is a sheet of paper.

Same girl, two afternoons. What would you want to record to find out what made the difference?