Nature and the environment is a topic that children often really resonate with. In a world of ever-increasing technology and screentime, children can find getting into nature a magical, and often very calming experience. It is a great way to slow down and start thinking about being mindful. Because of this, many teachers want to bring this peaceful nature theme into their classrooms, by bringing some of the outside in and creating a calm space for their students. Our pampas classroom display pack is perfect for this, with its beautiful nature illustration and calming colour palette. In this post, we’ll be giving you 5 tips on how you can use our classroom display printable packs to create a natural and peaceful environment in your classroom.
Incorporate some natural materials
If you’re using our pampas classroom display pack to create a natural environment in your classroom, continue the theme by using some natural materials in your décor. You could use a hessian material as backing for a display board and use our printable pampas border around it. You could also incorporate wicker baskets as storage options with a natural element, and use them for storing books, scissors/glues, pens, or other classroom supplies. Using hessian baskets are na alternative to plastic that bring a little of the outside in to your classroom.
Have a morning yoga session
The pampas theme is all about calm and peace, and so much of that is all about slowing down and taking a breath. You could start to try and encourage this with your students by incorporating a morning yoga session into your day. There are lots of free yoga classes for children available on youtube so you can find one that fits your vibe, whether that’s something slow or something a bit more energetic. Yoga is a great way to start getting children to think about how their bodies feel, what their breathing is like, and how that makes them feel.
Dried flowers
Bringing nature into your classroom has so many benefits, but sometimes we just have too many things on our plate to worry about keeping plants alive. Or your classroom just may not be suitable – some of us have some very shady classrooms! Luckily, there are other ways to bring nature in, like using dried flowers. Some flowers look absolutely beautiful when dried and many retain their colour. Look for some with long stems so you can tie them together and hang them on a wall, or you could keep them in a vase if you have a safe place where they won’t get knocked over. Dried flowers are a lovely, low-maintenance way to bring some real nature into the room, and they are also a great starting point for discussing nature. You could even incorporate your dried flowers into an art lesson!
Curate your library
Creating a reading area is a favourite task of many teachers. They are so important for making reading fun and engaging, encouraging a love of reading in children, and creating a bit of a peaceful, quiet space that is often well-needed. As well as thinking about how the space will be visually, think carefully about curating your library. There are so many fantastic children’s books all about nature, mindfulness, and feelings. If you want to really bring the values of peaceful nature into your classroom, you may want to have a specific area or shelf dedicated to books that children can turn to when they need a bit of calm.
Use earth tones in your colour palette
Our pampas classroom display pack uses earth tones, which are colours inspired by the earth and nature. Shades of brown in an earth tone theme are often seen as being warm, comforting, and reassuring. But don’t worry – you don’t just have to have a brown classroom! You can make a more vibrant colour palette for your classroom by using brown earth tones as a base and adding some bright pops of other earth tones, like reds inspired by natural clays, or greens inspired by foliage.
