IEL Conference: Outdoor Risky Play

Inspiring Early Learning Conference 2023!

This year, the  Inspiring Early Learning Conference is excited to offer a combination of online and in-person events! 

Registration is not required for the online sessions.  Microsoft Teams links will be shared with the community beforehand.  Recordings will be available for 4 weeks afterwards.

Supporting Children’s Outdoor Risky Play in Early Learning & Care with Rachel Ramsden

Research is clear on the importance of regular and repeated access to outdoor risky play. Early learning and child care environments provide opportunities for children’s outdoor risky play beyond what may be experienced at home or in the community. This session will help you build the case about the need for outdoor risky play and get ideas to make positive changes in your work with young children. Learn the key concepts that support outdoor risky play and how you can begin to incorporate these into your programs and plans. This interactive workshop will work through real examples from early learning and child care environments, focusing on how to support outdoor risky play with children under six. Recent research from British Columbia will showcase how child care centres are supporting outdoor risky play through policy, practice, and environmental modifications. This session will also make available the resources and tools to help you get started in your role supporting young children’s participation in outdoor risky play.

Rachel Ramsden is a Research Coordinator at the Play Outside UBC Lab and a PhD Candidate in the School of  Population and Public Health at UBC. The Play Outside UBC Lab is dedicated to studying child injury prevention, and children’s outdoor and risky play. Working with Dr. Mariana Brussoni, Rachel leads research projects in BC and across Canada that aim to support children’s outdoor and risky play in early learning and child care environments. Rachel has a particular interest in capturing children’s perspectives of their outdoor risky play and prioritizing children’s voices in child care planning. Rachel previously worked in child care policy, planning and design within multiple municipal government roles.

Visit the Play Outside UBC Lab here:  https://playoutsideubc.ca/