Outdoor Play in the Early Years Conference 2023

What we have learned!

Location: Church Sanctuary

Hear from people who have worked for years with young children outdoors. What have they learned? What are the joys? What is hard?

Panelist include:

Taylor Innes Common Digs

Monique Lozeron BGC Strathcona County

Jess Walker and Sarah Marshall Wild Wonders Nature Play

Sylvie Tissandier Teacher at Aleda Patterson School

Morning Yoga with Kim

Location: Church Basement Spruce Room

Registration required. Bring your own towel or mat.

Within a small group setting, we will explore gentle movement, breath work, and relaxation/meditation strategies.  You will have an opportunity to connect with yourself and build supportive patterns enabling better movement, ease, relaxation, and resilience.

My name is Kim Marion and I’m passionate about supporting people in their ability to do the activities that are meaningful to them.  As an Occupational Therapist for 25 years and through my training in yoga therapy, I have experience seeing and understanding how the connections within our body and mind impact our ability to move and function in work, school, recreation/sports, caregiving, and self-care activities.  Patterns of movement/thinking/feeling develop in all of us from life events (i.e., pregnancy, illness, work, trauma, injuries, sports) and while some patterns are supportive, some patterns are less helpful as our biomechanics, anatomy, and mental/emotional states shift.

Arrive and sign in

Location: Church Foyer

Location: Church Sanctuary

We will start the morning together with Chantal Chagnon. Her drumming and songs will fill your heart. Come ready to participate! Learn more about her work here: https://www.cree8.ca/chantal_chagnon

Children are Scientists with Jess Walker and Sarah Marshall

Location: Edworthy Park Owl

Children are innately curious and scientists by nature. The outdoors provides an unmatched rich play environment with limitless opportunities for them to wonder explore, build, and manipulate. We will share our experiences as dayhome educators. You will leave this session with practical ideas to get outside with your children.

Firecraft and Resiliency with Rob Ross

Location: Edworthy Park Picnic

For the vast majority of history fire has been a central component to the human experience and, although many of us do not rely on fire as part of our daily lives, it still plays a role in both our outdoor experiences, imagination, and cultural expressions. There is something special about fire, something primal that draws us near. This session will focus on, not only the art of Firecraft, but also the art of resilience and it's importance to facilitators and youth.

Outdoor Gross Motor Play as a Foundation for Learning with Devon Karchut

Children are Scientists with Jess Walker and Sarah Marshall

Location: Edworthy Park Owl

Children are innately curious and scientists by nature. The outdoors provides an unmatched rich play environment with limitless opportunities for them to wonder explore, build, and manipulate. We will share our experiences as dayhome educators. You will leave this session with practical ideas to get outside with your children.

Meeting Children's Needs in Nature with Brittany Caldwell

Location: Church Front Lawn

Meeting children's basic needs without the luxuries of an indoor classroom can be challenging. When we go outside we often give up shelter, running water, heat, and electricity. This leaves us wondering how will meet children's needs for shelter, food, hand washing, washrooms, diaper changing, transportation and more. In this session, we will explore how Creative Seeds uses a mobile classroom to creatively meet children's basic needs and then work in groups to brainstorm other creative ways to make sure children can meet their needs outdoors. You will  leave with creative solutions to caregiving in the outdoors that will inspire you to stay outside longer and explore further!

Exploring Indigenous Perspective through Outdoor Learning with Karlee Zelmer

Location: Church Mud Kitchen

Infuse indigenous learning and ways of being into outdoor learning. I will share some stories and knowledge I have accumulated from elders, knowledge keepers and research and demonstrate how I infuse this into my own teaching practices.

Outdoor Expressive Arts in the Early Years with Tammy Thomson

Location: Church Basement Larch

Extend your early years art program outdoors with creative ways for engaging children and their families in process-based, expressive arts experiences. Graduate art therapist and counselor, Tammy Thomson will show you how to make outdoor art set up and clean up a breeze by creating your own portable outdoor art kit. A list of children's favourite tried and tested outdoor art supplies will be provided. Learn how working directly with an art therapist can support your own creativity as a professional and with children you care for in the great outdoors.

How Outdoor Play Supports Executive Functioning with Lisa McBride

Location: Church Sanctuary

We intuitively know that time spent outdoors is great for our children, but let's look more closely at how outdoor play can support and strengthen their development of executive functions, specifically with regard to attention span and the ability to think and plan ahead.

Executive functions are a work in progress for most humans, and can be taught, so let's discuss what they are and what the research (and some life experience) says about how outdoor play can teach our children to attend, regulate, and work toward their goals.

Lunch will be available at the church.

Being WITH the Outdoors with Jennifer Usher, Linda O'Donoghue and Amanda Sargeant

Location: Edworthy Park Owl

How do children learn about the weather and nature? By being WITHin it! In this interactive and playful workshop, participants will engage in experiences to support children’s learning and understanding of being within nature. The outdoors can help us reconnect to our sense of wonder as we explore our rich surroundings. It also helps us model for children a positive, reciprocal relationship with the land. Embracing the weather in all seasons allows participants to shift from observing nature indoors towards “mingling” with the elements and providing children with immersive and sensory-rich outdoor experiences. Some of the topics we will explore include what the weather has to offer us, use of natural loose parts, mindfulness in nature, respecting the land, and reflecting on our approach to weather and nature in early learning settings.

Stories of Connection with Dave Verhulst

Location: Edworthy Park Stump Circle

Humans are the “story telling animal.” Since the beginning, stories have helped shape us - we use them to weave our feelings, experiences, thoughts and ideas into threads of meaning. Stories are one of our most powerful tools for motivating and inspiring curiosity and activities that will drive children (and adults) towards a deep connection with nature.

Drawing from our experiences at Forest Play and interpretive guiding this workshop will explore:

• How stories can be used to create powerful learning experiences.
• How you can use archetypes and life stage transitions to build meaningful stories
• How to rediscover a child-like passion for the natural world
• Essential routines that ground and reconnect us with the natural world

Rejuvenation Forest Bathing with Julianne Buchler

Location: Edworthy Park Field

Forest Bathing is a literal reference to spending time "bathing" in health-promoting chemicals produced by the forest. We don't focus on any goals such as getting to a certain location in a certain time, as we might if we were hiking. Rather, time is spent connecting with one's senses, slowing down, noticing the world around us, and incorporating this experience as further knowledge of ourselves and the natural world.

What to expect:

• Low – no impact
• Slow walking with minimal terrain changes
• Guided mindfulness invitations
• Connection to nature through the senses
• Tea ceremony

Reading Nature with Rob Ross

Location: Edworthy Park Field

When you know what to look for, the forest is full to edible, and medicinal trees, plants and fungi! Join Rob on a walk to explore this side of the forest.

Exploring Land Acknowledgements with Young Children with Taylor Innes and Parisa Rahimian

Location: Church Basement Larch

In 2022, the staff at Common Digs chose to continue our responsibility and journey toward truth and reconciliACTION through considering the possibilities of developing personal, heartfelt, authentic Land Acknowledgements with young children. In this session, we will share our actions, experiences, proposals to the children and reflections of how this invitation took shape in our classes. We will take time to consider how you can develop your own personal land acknowledgments and/or working with children in an emergent and responsive way.

Building Connection Through Nature Play with Dave Verhulst

Location: Edworthy Park Stump Circle

When children are deeply connected with the natural world, they are more connected to themselves and are happier and more hopeful. During this interactive workshop we’ll share stories and experiences from the field and introduce some of the tools and techniques we integrate into our Forest Play programs that get kids learning (without knowing it) and deeply connected with the natural world.

Nature Buddies with Alex O'Rourke

Location: Edworthy Park Picnic

Follow three nature buddies, local animals, through the seasons! Ideas and activities will be shared to build on our knowledge about seasonal change through the behaviours of local animals. This session will also highlight some of David Sobel's work as an environmental educator and teacher as a guide to building your own programs outdoors.

Project Work Through the Seasons with Sayward Wilkinson Blanc and Sarah Fletcher

Location: Edworthy Park Owl

Come explore how the Reggio Emilia philosophies of project work and documentation can support emergent curriculum in the outdoors in all seasons. This session will present examples of project work from Calgary Nature Kindergarten and allow participants an opportunity to explore an discuss ideas and challenges of project work from ages 4-6.

Process Art Outdoors with Brittany Caldwell

Location: Church Front Lawn

Creating engaging and fun process art in the outdoors has its own set of unique opportunities and challenges. Join us as we learn about some amazing mediums and how to incorporate nature into process art! Learn tips to fight outdoor challenges like wet and windy or cold weather, and how to maximize the season's offerings by creating with natural materials. This is a hands-on workshop where we will be creating art together. Be prepared to be creative and get messy!

Risky Play with Anthony Bourque

Location: Church Basement Larch and Outside

We will explore different ways to facilitate loose parts risky play safely outdoors (and indoors) while using the Canadian outdoor play toolkit and risk-benefit assessment tool to document all of the hidden safety procedures required for programs. We will use the time with loose parts to share and explore the different ways we have all been successful with our children's activities, the failures we have learned from, and ask those burning questions you've been holding on to.

Location: Church South Field

We will gather to end our day and reflect on what we have learned. There will be draw prizes! You must  be present to win!