This week of 30 Days Wild coincides with National Picnic Week, running from 19th – 27th June this year. Picnics bring together everything about enjoying and appreciating being outdoors, and can be a marvellous way to spend time with others – both human and non-human!
This week’s contribution for our Nature Play library collection might help to enhance attention to some of these components, prompt us to take care of such favourite places, and experience gratitude for the seemingly simple (but actually profound) things that being outside in nature-filled environments can bring.
Talking of picnics outdoors, we are at long last able to extend an invitation to the long-postponed ECO annual professional gathering! This event is a fully outdoors, self-contained, in-person gathering at Barnsley College’s Wigfield Farm on Saturday 10th July.
Meeting up for a whole day at ECO Pioneering Centre, Growing Wild, Barnsley’s wildly successful first fully outdoor nursery, the day will focus upon coming together, having time to catch up, and sharing how we have been coping, faring and innovating over the past 16 months.
Taking our conference outdoors means a different and refreshing way to come together, so, inspired by this triple-headed dandelion flower, we’re calling the event Doing Things Differently! This should be really interesting, and of course just wonderful to be able to see each other in real again.
Nearer to the 10th July, we’ll send out joining instructions to those who have registered, which will also explain how you can make yourself self-contained* and covid-comfortable (our risk assessment!) so as to make the most of this very exciting day (*we will be asking you to bring your own lunch, mug and snacks). This is a free event, but registration is required and we suggest a £10 donation for our generous hosts Growing Wild on the day – please follow this link to register.
We do hope you can make it and are so looking forward to seeing you all!
A book a day for nature play – week 4 of 30 Days Wild by Jan White
Monday 21st June: Creatures – Yucky Worms by Vivian French and Jessica Alberg (Walker Books 2015)
Tuesday 22nd June: Earth and Stone – Mud by Mary Lyn Rae and Lauren Stringer (Harcourt Brace International 1996)
Wednesday 23rd June: Plants and Growing – Compost Stew: an A to Z recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals and Ashely Wolff (Dragonfly books 2014)
Thursday 24th June: Trees and Sticks – Tree Keepers by Gemma Koomen (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books 2020)
Friday 25th June: Weather and Seasons – What Colour Is The Wind? by Anne Herbauts (Enchanted Lion Books 2016)
Weekend 26th & 27th June: Gratitude and Giving Back – Thank You, Earth: A love letter to our planet by April Pulley Sayre (HarperCollins 2021)
All photographs are copyright Carol Duffy or Menna Godfrey and must not be used without written permission from the photographer or Early Childhood Outdoors. Book covers sourced from Amazon.co.uk