DATE Thursday, September 22nd, 7pm – 9pm ONLINE (2 hours via zoom) & Saturday, September 24th, 9.30am -12.30 pm and 1pm – 3pm IN PERSON Cost: $75 Total 7 PD hours
 Presenter: Liz Hicks

Description: Participants must have their own transportation to & between
all centers; car pooling is suggested
Please dress for inclement weather. This workshop is ONLY cancelled if the weather is extreme
 In response to popular demand, we are offering a tour/workshop of outdoor environments ONLY!
Please note it is a CAR tour. This means if you sign up for this workshop you are responsible for driving yourself (we suggest car pooling) to the sites that have generously volunteered to show you their outdoor environments.
You must SIGN IN at each location to receive a PD certificate for this workshop. Participants are responsible for their own lunch.
On the Thursday evening, September 22nd – by zoom – we will reflect on, discuss, & look at ideas on ways in which outdoor learning environments could inspire ourselves, the children, & families. We will also take a look at some outdoor environments by power point to further inspire us.
Then on Saturday, September 24th, from 9.30am – 11.30am: The following centres outdoor environments will be open for you to visit at your leisure – in no particular order. Please be respectful of the ‘closing time’ as they are volunteering their time to show you around & talk with you. Also note that their locations are very close to one another
In the North End of Halifax:
A Tiny Lab for Early Learning, 2236 Maitland St, Halifax – parking is available on Maitland, providing care for infants – 5 years of age.
This site will give you ideas of how to provide an inspiring outdoor environment that has limited space in a downtown core.
https://www.atinylab.org/ A quote from their web site is: “This is a place to create, to explore, to wonder, to ask questions, to seek answers, to grow, to learn, to laugh, to cry, to experiment, to get messy, to sing, to shout, to problem solve, to take risks & to be whomever you want to be.”
Leeds Street Child Care Centre, 5685 Leeds Street, Halifax (A lab school for the NSCECE located in the NSCC), providing care for infants -5years of age.
This site will give you ideas of how to provide an inspiring outdoor environment that has been worked on over the past few years by staff, families & the community.
https://www.nscece.com/lab-schools A quote from their website is: ‘We are a demonstration school for students who are enrolled at Nova Scotia College of Early Childhood Education. We believe in providing families with high quality child care for their children & in doing so, we support children in their growth & development.’
Needham Early Learning Centre, 3372 Devonshire Av, Halifax, providing care for children 18months – school age.
This site will give you ideas of how to provide an inspiring outdoor environment that is very challenging (on a hill!) & has been worked on over the past few years by staff, families & the community.
http://www.needhamdaycare.com/ A quote from their webpage is: ‘Through play, we provide learning opportunities for well-being, discovery & invention, language & communication, & personal & social responsibility. Our high-quality early learning program promotes healthy development in a safe & inclusive environment.’
You now have an hour & half to have lunch & drive to the following two centres: (CONT’D on next page)
•

Afternoon:
In Upper Tantallon, these two centres will open their outdoor spaces for you to visit from 1.00pm – 3.00pm. Please note they are less than 100 meters from each other:
Fox Hollow Family Child Care Centre, 1 Fox Hollow Drive, Upper Tantallon, providing care for children from 18 months – 5 years.
This site will give you ideas of how to provide an inspiring outdoor environment that has a large variety of invita-tions & richness for the children.
https://foxhollowfamily.ca/child-care-centre/ A quote from their website is: ‘We strongly believe in the power of learning whilst playing, allowing children to learn, develop & grow in a safe environment at their own pace both in-side in the centre & also outside in our spacious grounds.’
Giant Steps Children’s Centres, 15 French Village Station Road, Upper Tantallon, providing care at this location for pre-primary – 10 years old.
This site will give you ideas of how to provide an inspiring outdoor environment that has been worked on over the past few years by staff, Families & the Community to provide a stimulating experience for these school age children
https://www.giantstepschildrenscentre.ca/ A quote from their website is: ‘We believe:
All children can learn when they have the opportunity to touch, look, listen, try out their ideas, pursue their ques-tions & theories, & follow their curiosity: Children learn best in a warm, supportive & respectful environment that provides unique & varied opportunities & experiences: Families & community are vital to children’s learning.’
You will receive instructions on how to access each location the week of the workshop.
Objectives:
• Increased understanding of what makes an environment inspiring
• Demonstrated how intentional design of environments are important to children’s development
• Provide strategies to take & apply these ideas to your own environment
All aboard for the
Inspiring OUTDOOR environments CAR Tour Cont’d
Presenter Biography: Liz Hicks has over 31 years working within the early childhood field, as an elementary school teacher, administrator of & teacher in a part –day program for 23 years, 5.5 years as an inclusion facilitator for Partner-ships for Inclusion, part time faculty with NSCECE, & she is also a private consultant working with various Centres in H.R.M providing professional development in a variety of topics, environmental & inclusion rating scales, & program coordination. Her passion is to help educators (& administrators) find & develop their potential, so they can help children find & develop their potential.