February 15, 2023
With Marnie Power

Date: Wednesday, February 15 

Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST 

Location: On-line

Cost: $39.00 *pending PD funding approval in Alberta

When exploring outdoor play it’s very tempting to provide an inventory of activities that have a clear start, middle, and end, that can be easily scratched off our long laundry list of things to do in our days while working with children. But what if play can be more than this? What would play look like if it were both a mindset and a practice that we embedded into our personal and professional lives?In this workshop, we’ll explore 6 (dynamic) core principles of outdoor play and a playful mindset including:

• Expressing and mobilizing the imagination
• Exploring self-agency & freedom
• Building trust and interconnectedness with others
• Seeking out a sense of wonder & awe on a regular basis
• Experimenting with elements of physical and emotional risk
• Pushing boundaries of "what's possible"

We’ll then look at what this means in our day to day practice and how to bring these principles to life:

• The daily habits of a playful mindset
• Setting the “container” and “conditions” for play
• Walking along the play continuum (ranging from free, unstructured play to playful experiences)
• Designing rich play environments
• Creating safe spaces and trusting relationships
• Scaffolding and stretching play
• Other hands-on approaches to incorporate play into our daily lives

March 1, 2023
With Marnie Power

Date: Wednesday, March 1
Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm MST
Location: On-line
Cost :$39.00 *pending PD funding approval in Alberta

When children have the freedom to roam and explore, and when they have a sense of self-agency to fuel their own learning process, they will naturally engage in risk. Children inherently want to explore their environment, test their limits, and negotiate their comfort zone between thrilling possibilities and the potential for harm. This is very exciting, arguably it’s where learning, growth, and happiness resides, and yet it can feel very scary for adults who may feel ill-equipped to navigate, manage and support children in that exploration.

This workshop will explore the dance adults do internally, and the dance we do with children when risk shows up in children’s outdoor play. We will explore the evidence-base behind risk, (including the developmental benefits for children), how the experts define risky play, strategies for co-managing risk with children, and an exploration into the “Risk Benefit Assessment for Outdoor Play- A Canadian Toolkit” that was published in 2019.


*Resource: Gill, T., Power, M., & Brussoni, M. (2019). Risk Benefit Assessment for Outdoor Play: A Canadian Toolkit. Ottawa: Child & Nature Alliance of Canada.