Eco Drama is delighted to launch our 2022 Out to Play Early Years programme of work, commissioned by Glasgow City Council Early Years department, which will run from February – June 2022. Building on the success of the GCC commissioned programme of work delivered throughout 2021, which included Out to Play webinars and resource packs for all 236 nurseries in Glasgow City Council, as well as the pilot project of Out to Play in a Day, we are pleased to continue delivering the project to more nurseries, children and early years practitioners throughout Glasgow this spring-summer.
The early years programme of work consists of the following:
Out to Play Mini Residencies
The Out to Play Mini-Residency programme is a newly launched initiative run by Eco Drama which will work in depth with 6 nurseries this spring. The programme offers nurseries the chance to delve deeper into the Out to Play approach, with a three-week mini-residency of outdoor creative arts, drama and storytelling workshops. As well as Drama Artist led sessions for children, there is a strong CPD element running throughout the programme, culminating in the participating staff leading their own Out to Play sessions in the final week of the project.
Out to Play in a Day
We will be delivering Out to Play in a Day with a further 20 nurseries this spring-summer. These are day long visits in which the Drama Artist delivers 3-4 sessions for children and staff throughout the day, introducing nurseries to the Out to Play project and methodology. At the end of the day a CPD session is delivered for all staff, exploring how to integrate arts-based outdoor learning and play into the early years curriculum, how to re-imagine nursery grounds into a place of adventurous learning and how to utilize creative learning methods such as drama, nature-based storytelling and imaginative play in order to engage young children with the natural world. Participants are also provided with their very own Early Years Out to Play Resource Pack.
Out to Play CPD Webinars
We will be holding 2 further webinars on March 16th for 80 Glasgow City Council staff who missed the 2021 webinars. During the 2 hour webinar we share methodology, ideas and learning from our Out to Play project, providing attendees with a range of tried and tested activities which encourage creativity, wonder and curiosity for the natural world. The webinar includes practical activities, creative ideas and tips, short film clips of an Out to Play session in action and interactive opportunities for online teamwork and discussion.
Led by Drama Artist Saffron Gillies, the Out to Play programme of work for early years is designed to engage and excite children about their outdoor surroundings and encourage a deeper connection with nature through drama, storytelling and play. The CPD element for nursery staff, which underpins the programme of work, is designed to support practitioners with the confidence and skills to continue delivering arts-based outdoor play and learning with their children going forward.
For more information, please watch the short film below of the project in action at Westercraigs Nursery, or read one of the project reports available on the Evaluation page of our website.
Eco Drama’s Out to Play Early Years Programme 2022 has been Commissioned by Glasgow City Council.
