It’s a special occasion for Early Childhood Outdoors this week, so cause for a small celebration. We have reached the landmark of having 60 articles shared by the ECO meshwork through the ECO blog – which is quite an exciting achievement!
The aim of our blog is to enable folks who are part of the ECO meshwork to communicate with each other, sharing what they are doing in our common cause of:
More children thriving outdoors, more often and for longer, benefiting from richer and more meaningful environments offering authentic, rewarding and satisfying experiences.
Connection with others who are on the same path is both nourishing and motivating, and I hope that these virtual weekly nuggets provide a little boost of inspiration each weekend.
Across this year we’ve had:
- Stories from outdoor-focused settings as they develop how they work with the outdoors.
- Clips from lively interviews Kathy Brodie has had with outdoor champions for Early Years TV.
- Digests of research being carried out by academics at several different universities on language, empowerment, autonomy, parents’ views and babies outdoors.
- Clips of babies and toddlers thriving outside from Siren Films’ fabulous Clip Library.
- Perspectives from parents and wisdom from Froebelian thinking.
- Frameworks for working therapeutically in partnership with the natural world.
- Thinking about natural environments and the design of outdoor spaces.
- Great collections of children’s books for supporting experiences outdoors.
- News of new training opportunities, advocacy and campaigns.
- Alerts for events and updates on ECO’s development, including fruitful collaborations and even special long-term discounts on over 60 outdoor provision and practice books!
A very big THANKS goes to everyone who has contributed to the variety and liveliness of our little blog. Do keep them coming!
So, Kathy and I thought we’d do something different and special for this week’s post. We’ve gathered together a small selection of the blog contributors to visually and verbally share what involvement in Early Childhood Outdoors has meant to them. (Note: we originally planned for this to be a 50th post celebration, but it took a little longer to get it all together…).
Thanks so much to Carol, Tanya, Felicity, Kathy, Clare, Menna, Rachel and Janet for making this special celebratory blogpost happen.
Towards the end of the video, Janet Packer of Growing Wild Outdoor Nursery also gives a hint of what has been brewing in ECO’s evolution, and is now close to being ready to roll out – do keep an eye out for something exciting coming in the new year…
Meanwhile, please get yourself a cuppa, sit back and enjoy our wee celebration!
ECO 50th blog celebrations plus pioneers.mp4 from Kathy Brodie on Vimeo.