Outdoor Play and Inquiry
Over the course of the year, Land and Language Connectors and the Early Learning team have worked alongside Early Learning educators to build regular sessions in the outdoors. Over the course of the sessions, the team of educators focuses on respect for the land, oneself and each other. As the Land and Language Connector expressed, “Supporting teachers to build a connection to the land is so important.” This allows educators to feel grounded in the local place.
The sessions also focus on developing reciprocity with the land, and the interconnectedness of all things. Through regular visits to the same location, learners develop a relationship with land, respect for its fragility, and a sense of belonging and interconnectedness through circle time, story time, and sharing time in the outdoors.
Our sessions focus on respecting the land, especially during the fragile time of growth in the spring. After teachings around respect, one child said, “You’re not supposed to pick the crocus because it’s the first flower after snow.”
Through these regular sessions in the outdoors, learners are gaining both cultural awareness and self-awareness. Learners are supported in their play to take appropriate risks to build their self-esteem and confidence. Educator’s prompted learners with questions such as “Do you feel safe?” and “What do you see and notice?” As they played together, they shared “You have to believe in yourself, and “I’m being brave.”
When the learners reflect on their experiences outdoors together, they share some of their favourite moments. From “playing on the hills” and “investigating fire ants” to “special time with friends,” learners reflected on their learning together. Other learners shared their experience of “exploring further and further” each time they went out into the forest as their perspective of the surrounding forests broadened and “climbing the big hill to look at plants.” As the Land and Language Connector summed it up, through these regular times outdoors, “The learners are gaining strong cultural ties, a sense of First Nation values, and a connection to self.”