Winter 2025 Staff Training at Out to Play: A How and a Why
Did you know that our staff team gathers together three times during the school year for seasonal Forest and Nature School training? It’s true! Training offers our educators time to focus on both relationship-building and an understanding of the philosophies and principles that inform Out to Play’s pedagogy. These training days fill our buckets up […]
When Your Child Doesn’t Want to go to Forest School
Gentle suggestions for persisting through resistance. Full Disclosure: I am writing this article as a member of the Out to Play community who dabbles in many roles. In my day to day life, I am an educator to children at Out to Play. In my writing, I am a storyteller with adults. And in all […]
How to Find Joy and Awe in the Cold! A Primer for The Grown-Ups
A Primer for The Grown-Ups Encouraging a child to go outside in all weather builds resilience, but more importantly it saves them from spending their life merely tolerating the ‘bad’ days in favour of a handful of ‘good’ ones – a life of endless expectations and conditions where happiness hinges on sunshine.” Nicolette Sowder By […]
How Pretend Food Leads To Authentic Connections
Everywhere we go, in the real world and in play, food is essential to how we connect with others. At forest school, it’s no different. There are many facets where food and learning and inquiry intersect throughout our days in very real ways—we gather intentionally together around the fire to lunch and snack; we have […]
When a Junkyard Becomes Beautiful: What it’s like to play and teach with BIG loose parts
We know that loose parts support children in open-ended imaginative play and connection with one another. When one thinks of forest school, it’s easy to envision a pleasantly weathered mud kitchen, or a pile of wicker baskets warming in the sun, waiting to be filled with acorns and joy. But what about those loose parts […]
The Creek and Emergent Science: Giving students agency to define and guide their own scientific thinking
Water has an inherent draw to it, as a background feature on the landscape, as an acoustic presence, and as a loose part in play. But what about water as a vessel for giving children agency to define and guide their own scientific learning? Biological sampling emerged as a natural extension of other kinds of […]
The Out to Play Walking School Bus: A reflection on the value of playful work
The Out to Play Walking School Bus is a phenomenon rooted in necessity, or at least convenience. As educators, we walk the same paths as families do for dropoff and pickup, but we’re aware that when we do so, we are dressed for perhaps a very different day of work than some of the caring […]
Project-based learning for older children in an emergent, inquiry-driven pedagogy
As educators who are committed to a child-centred and emergent pedagogy, we are constantly challenging ourselves to find a balance between stepping back and trusting in the learning inherent in play, versus stepping in and adding a provocation. Our own foray into offering project-based learning at Out to Play has been a learning experience for […]