Outdoor and Nature Play and Cognitive Development

Executive function is the collection of processes in our brain that help us make calm and rational decisions to accomplish tasks and goals. These skills can be developed through interactions with children to support their learning every day to develop these skills.

The purpose of this 2-hour course is to educate early childhood professionals on the benefits of targeting executive function, its component skills, and common patterns of executive function development to support teachers with planning learning experiences to support children’s development of executive function.

In order to facilitate healthy social emotional development among young children, early childhood professionals first need to have the tools to regulate their own emotions and manage their own stress.

The purpose of this 2-hour course is to provide early childhood educators with information and resources to recognize stressors and signs of stress and empower them to adopt healthy approaches to stress management.

Indoors or outdoors, a strategic approach to observation and assessment gives early childhood educators the information they need to effectively plan for children’s needs, interests, and abilities.

The purpose of this 2-hour course is to offer tips for incorporating systematic observation into outdoor and nature play activities, including what to look for and how to document what you see.

Increased engagement in outdoor and nature play can benefit young children’s learning across all developmental domains.

The purpose of this 2-hour course is to offer early childhood professionals strategies for supporting children’s social emotional development through outdoor play and learning activities.