This episode addresses practice and policies for early childhood education outdoor programs.

We invite policymakers, practitioners, researchers and families to celebrate young children outdoors and envision a licensed category of nature-based child care tailored to British Columbia.

Outdoor activity materials: a string, about the length of your arm span

Optional: magnifying glass, sketchbook, notebook, something to sit on

Links to Additional Resources

For risk management tools and more:

Canadian Risk Benefit Assessment Toolkit

OutsidePlay.ca (Early Childhood Educator Journey)

Outdoor Play Canada

Speakers in this episode, by order of appearance:

Henry Mathias, PhD, Strategic Lead, National Care Standards Team, Care Inspectorate, Scotland

Elin Kelsey, PhD, Roundtable Moderator/Award-Winning Author of Hope Matters

Mariana Brussoni, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics & School of Population and Public Health, UBC/Roundtable Organizing Team

Aliza Yair, MEd, Program Specialist, Outdoor Preschool Pilot, Department for Child and Youth Development, State of Washington

Hart Banack, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Education, UNBC/Roundtable Organizing Team

Shelley McClure, PhD, Regional Manager (former), Community Care Facilities Licensing, Island Health, BC/Roundtable Organizing Team

Belva Stone, ECE, Director/Co-Teacher, Muddy Boot Prints, Early Learning Outside Inc, BC/Roundtable Organizing Team

Tricia Edgar, MRM, Director/Co-Founder, Fresh Air Learning, BC

Mads Bølling, PhD, Postdoc Research Fellow, Steno Health Promotion Research, Steno Diabetes Centre, Denmark

Aron Bookman, JD, Partner, Carfra Lawton LLP, BC

Liz Williams, ECE, Daycare Manager & Principal/Language and Culture Coordinator, Wo’umxhl Simalgyex Daycare, Gitwangak Education Society/First Nations Pedagogy Network

Danielle Alphonse, MA, Professor/BC Regional Innovation Chair, Aboriginal early Childhood Development, Vancouver Island University, BC

Speaker bios are available on our website: https://eceonow.pwias.ubc.ca/

Episode production by Kailee Hirsche. Narration and sound editing by Thomas Powell.

These podcasts were created with generous support from the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC; Island Health; and the Lawson Foundation.

Music: Dreamy Piano Soft Sound Ambient Background by WinkingFoxMusic -Pixabay Download: https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-dreamy-piano-soft-sound-ambient-background-4049/

“park.wav”- https://freesound.org/s/198120by https://freesound.org/people/potok_potoczny/is licensed under CC0 1.0 Universal