Unleashing Curiosity: The Transformative Power of Outdoor Play
Unleashing Curiosity: The Transformative Power of Outdoor Play Programming for Children In the fast-paced digital age, where screens dominate children’s attention, the call for reconnecting with nature has never been more crucial. Outdoor play programming...
Constructing Creativity Outdoors: The Inherent Value of Nature-Based Play
“Constructing Creativity Outdoors: The Inherent Value of Nature-Based Play” Construction play that incorporates natural materials and loose parts can offer a unique and highly engaging experience for children by stimulating their senses and...
Looking at Early Learning and Childcare Program Designs with a New Lens: The Case Against Designated Centers in Early Learning and Childcare Programs
Early childhood education is a critical phase in a child’s development, laying the foundation for future dispositions, sense of curiosity, one’s ability and desire to try new ideas and in making connections to people, places, the land, and with species that...
Capturing Wonder: How Children’s Outdoor Photography Inspires a Deeper Connection
A few years ago, I wrote an article in our Play Outdoors: Exploring Outdoor Experiences in the Early Years magazine about the importance of children having cameras available to use in their outdoor environments. As educators prepare to welcome children into their...
The Power of One Dot: Inspiring Children’s Creativity on International Dot Day
Are you ready for International Dot Day on September 15, 2023? International Dot Day is one that is very dear to my heart. A few years ago, when I was spending time in the summer with my sister, who was a kindergarten teacher at the time, we explored how she could...
The Magic of Playing and Being in Tree Houses
A tree house, a free house,A secret you and me house,A high up in the leafy branchesCozy as can be house.A street house, a neat house,Be sure to wipe your feet houseIs not my kind of house at all –Let’s go live in a tree house. ― Shel Silverstein, Where...
Pedagogy of Outdoor Play in Adult Education
One of the gifts of COVID-19 has been the freedom to explore higher education in outdoor play. COVID-19 has offered educators the opportunity to rethink where and how learning occurs. One such strategy that is gaining attention, in an array of higher educational...
Let’s Go Outside!
Winter often gets a bad rap where I live! Because of the cooler temperatures and icy winds and frozen precipitation, most days children are restricted to indoor play. During the spring and summer, children have many opportunities to become familiar with their...