MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • December 7, 2025
At least three dozen schools in Maine, from South Portland to Skowhegan have embraced outdoor play and learning areas that use natural elements like boulders, logs, plants and water to encourage exploration, problem solving and an affinity for the environment. In these spaces, students study bees in the pollinator gardens. They hop from stump to stump, compost cafeteria food, build forts, splash in drainage ditches and streams, burrow in tunnels, and grow beans, tomatoes and flowers. Advocates claim green schoolyards have educational and environmental benefits that traditional playgrounds, which are dominated by athletic fields and prefabricated equipment, do not have. But not all districts are on board.