Current partnership with YMCA Southwestern Ontario – Given YMCA is the largest provider of early childhood education in Canada the organization is uniquely positioned to embed outdoor play as a core principle and positively contribute to increased outdoor play opportunities for children living in Canada. Currently, there is a lack of outdoor play pedagogy embedded within YMCA programs and professional learning gaps clearly exist. Outdoor play is inherently subject to educators’ misinterpretations and misunderstandings, about both the value and their own role in supporting children’s play. And educators’ belief systems largely influence the outdoor play experiences offered to children in their care. The research is focused on transforming futures for educators and children to position outdoor play and learning as a way forward.

Project Lead: Dr. Debra Harwood

Project is funded through Lawson Foundation to the YMCA

Harwood, D. & Collier, D. (2019). “Talk into my GoPro, I’m making a movie!”: Using digital ethnographic methods to explore children’s sociomaterial experiences in the woods. In N. Kucirkova & J. Rowsell, (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of learning with technology in early childhood. New York, NY: Routledge.

Harwood, D. & Collier, D. (2017). The matter of the stick: Storying/(re-)storying children’s literacies in the Forest. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 17 (3), 336-352. Invited.