Nature-Based Education Topics
Taking Children Outdoors in All Weather 101
There will be opportunities for you to play the role of the child as well as time to be the practitioner. We’ll look at the research on the benefits of time in nature and advantages of learning outdoors. With the goal of creating more opportunities for your students to learn and play outdoors in all weather, we will cover the following topics during our time together:
- Routines that Work
- Preparedness: clothing, tools, water and otherwise
- Learning and Playing Outdoors
- Outdoor Classroom Management
- Risk Management
- Practicalities of Outdoor Spaces
- Observation and Communication
- – Variety of ways to Document Students’ Learning
Natural History in the Winter Months
The snow and cold can change our natural landscape greatly. The world outdoors becomes quieter providing an illusion of calm, but activity in nature abounds throughout the winter months! During our time together we’ll explore curiosities hidden beneath the snow and mysteries concealed by the clouds. Participants will gain confidence in their understanding of the natural world in winter and leave with resources equipping them for the season ahead. Topics include:
- Snowflake Study
- Animal Tracking
- Shadows
- Moon
- Winter Survival
- Tree Identification
- Journaling in Winter
- Dressing for Success
Bringing Nature Indoors Throughout the School Year
A seasonal curriculum offers the benefits of natural connections between what children are learning indoors to what is happening outdoors. We will look at various ways to bring nature into the classroom and will focus on the how, when, and what of seasonal lessons as participants learn how to weave nature throughout the early childhood curriculum.
The topics we will cover include:
- Nature Indoors, Curriculum Outdoors
- Seasonal Standards-Based Lessons
- Found Objects
- Nature-based Arts and Crafts
- Movement and Songs with the Seasons
- Seasonal Successful Routines
- – Overcoming barriers: problem-solving obstacles to being outside