Hello Kayla,
Before breaching this subject with your colleagues, Do The Research on benefits of Outdoor Play. Prepare your comments so that you come across as understanding of their position BUT even for children "Life is about learning! It's continuous!"
Yes, Canada has cold winters. Playing outdoors in winter doesn't have to be dreaded. Make snow angels, snow people, snow as sand - dig in it! Maybe even think about a group project of building an igloo.
How about scienceing with winter? Fill two pails with packed snow. Leave one pail outside. Measure how deep the snow is in the pail. Record it.
With the other snow filled pail bring it into the classroom. Measure its depth and record it. Pose a question, "What do you think will happen to the snow. I or the Teacher Assistant would record each answer.
The following day, at group we examined the pail from outside. Compared it's depth to the previous day. With the indoor pail we examined it! We asked children, "What do you think happened?" Recording all responses. We compared the amount of snow to the water that now occupied the pail.
I like reading The Snowy Day by Eric Carle.
Be prepared for nay sayers about outdoor play. Have your facts to support your position.
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Patricia Landry
Retired
Jamaica Plain MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-22-2021 11:02 AM
From: Kayla de Groot
Subject: Toddler Outdoor Play in Canadian Winters
Hi There,
I have been an ECE for a decade, but when I moved provinces, I discovered that my education background did not qualify me to practice as an ECE here. I am currently completing an expedited ECE diploma program to remedy that problem.
That said, I am currently a student intern in a Toddler classroom. On my first day, I learned that the Toddler educators have a practice of only taking a small group of children outdoors each morning for play. Their reasoning is that the Toddlers spend most of their outdoor play time crying and that they don't want to force the children to do something they don't want to do.
For me, this is problematic not only because the province's licensing regulations require two outdoor play periods each day, but also because of my own personal values and beliefs about outdoor play as an essential part of childhood and as an important setting for developing resiliency and other key skills and dispositions.
I am looking for advice about how to broach this conversation with the educators (should I?), and any suggestions for how to engage Toddlers in outdoor play in Canadian winters. I recognize that winter gear/clothing is very restrictive for small bodies and limits the children in their explorations. How can I circumvent that challenge and support the Toddlers to successfully explore the outdoors in winter?
Thank you kindly for your time and input!
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Kayla de Groot
Early Childhood Educator
Halifax NS
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