Community of Practice: Exploring Unrestricted Outdoor Play

Suitable for all early learning professionals.

Presenter: Karla Gaygay, CCRR Consultant

In this Community of Practice, we will discuss our own experiences and relationships with the outdoors and nature. We hope to nurture an intimate connection to the land and to give us a sense of place, not only for us but also for the children we work with. There will be sessions that involve walking outdoors, so get your outdoor gear ready and focus your attention on the tiniest details of nature!

To guide us in our discussions, the group will read “Balanced and Barefoot” by Angela J. Hanscom. In this book, Angela offers several strategies to use outdoors and unstructured freedom as resources to help children achieve the movement, they need to be happy and healthy in mind, body, and spirit.

A ten-hour professional development certificate will be given at the end of the last session. Refreshments will be served at each session.

Karla currently works as a consultant for YMCA Child Care Resource and Referral. She is an Early Childhood Educator with experience working with infants to school-age children in both childcare and outdoor settings. Her love for the outdoors developed when she visited a nature school in Richmond. Since then, she has volunteered for outdoor preschool programs to gain insights and connect with educators in that field. She also worked as a Lead Outdoor Educator for an all-outdoor program. Her experiences allowed her to explore urban parks and trails in Vancouver, Burnaby and Richmond.