Out to Play Resource Pack & CPD Webinar for All Nurseries in Glasgow

After launching the Early Years Out to Play Resource Pack in February 2021, we are delighted to announce some exciting news that the resource and its associated CPD webinar has been noticed by Glasgow City Council.

Every nursery in Glasgow will now be receiving a hard copy of the pack courtesy of Glasgow City Council, as well as the opportunity to send 1-2 staff from each nursery to an Out to Play CPD Webinar delivered by Eco Drama during April – June 2021 which will introduce the pack content and Out to Play approach.  This is a fantastic development for Out to Play, an award-winning project delivered by Eco Drama that has reached 115 settings to date, including in-depth residencies in 25 schools and nurseries across Glasgow, reaching almost 4,000 children and young people and 688 teachers and nursery practitioners since 2015.

Eco Drama’s Artistic Director Emily Reid said:

“With Out to Play now in its sixth year, to have the work reach all 236 nursery settings in Glasgow supported by the Council is a huge boost. Not only will this venture support the Council’s drive to increase and develop high quality outdoor learning provision across the city, it will further advance the Out to Play project objectives – to raise the profile of the arts and creativity in outdoor learning and education with practitioners, and to provide imaginative, stimulating and meaningful outdoor learning experiences for all children which nurture a sense of curiosity, wonder and care for our natural world.

This work will provide a wealth of benefits for our youngest children, including improved health and well-being, improved connection to nature, the development of confidence, emotional intelligence, social skills and creativity, as well as supporting literacy and the development of pro environmental behaviours. With settings re-opening after the recent lockdown, it remains pertinent that children and young people have regular access to high quality arts, play and outdoor provision within their locality. We are looking forward to working with inspirational nursery staff across the city to achieve this.”

Previous webinar participants said:

“I found it extremely thought-provoking and it has given me more confidence to promote outdoor drama and storytelling within my setting”

“I watched this with one of my staff team and the next day she was already using ideas from the session and has been doing so since”

“It was very well presented with lots of inspirational ideas to provoke enquiry and imagination.”

The Early Years Out to Play Resource Pack contains an abundance of ideas to support nursery staff to deliver imaginative outdoor learning and play sessions in playgrounds with early years children, including inspiring environmental stories, nature connection activities, drama games, play-based activities and session plans. It draws on the experiences of the Drama Artist who delivered Out to Play residencies in nursery school playgrounds across Glasgow during 2018.  Out to Play champions the role of drama, nature-based storytelling and imaginative outdoor play in engaging young children with the natural world.  More information on Out to Play can be found here. Order a copy of the pack here.

The mini documentary below tells the story of the early years resource pack, filmed by Mike Rea at collaborating nursery Westercraigs.

The Out to Play Early Years CPD Webinars for Glasgow City Council practitioners will be held on the following dates:

  • Wednesday 7th April: 2 – 4pm and 6 – 8pm
  • Wednesday 21st April: 10 – 12noon and 2 – 4pm
  • Thursday 6th May: 9.30 – 11.30am and 3.30 – 5.30pm*
  • Thursday 13th May: 2 – 4pm and 6 – 8pm
  • Thursday 3rd June: 2 – 4pm and 6 – 8pm*
  • Wednesday 16th June: 10 – 12noon and 2 – 4pm

*The webinars on the 6th May and 3rd June are open to the general public, with 50% of places allocated to practitioners from any location outwith Glasgow. A limited number of public places are also available on each of the other dates. Further information and here.

To read reports on the benefits and impact of the Out to Play project to date, please visit the Evaluation page.

The Out to Play Early Years Resource Pack & Webinars for all Nurseries in Glasgow City Council are gratefully supported by:


The Out to Play project and Eco Drama are gratefully supported by many other funders.