Play is Natural

GameTime is excited to announce an upcoming webinar for school administrators and educators, as well as landscape architects on the importance of designing nature and natural activities into school environments.

The webinar, "Designing School Grounds to Integrate Nature, Learning, and Health Promotion (People and Planet)" is presented by PlayCore's Center for Outreach, Research and Education (CORE) and will be held April 16 from 2pm-3pm ET. CEUs and LUs will be awarded to eligible attendees. Dr. Inés Palacios, PhD will moderate the discussion with Robin Moore, MCP, Hon. ASLA and Dr. Nilda Cosco, PhD of the Natural Learning Initiative at NC State University. 

Use code GAMETIME when registering

About the Webinar

Children and youth have a legal obligation to attend school. School environments, especially public schools, should be designed and managed for this special population as high-quality environmental equalizers for students from a range of socio-economic backgrounds, including the growing population of pre-K children. As this ideal is far from being realized, it begs the question: is a school just the buildings? Outdoors is fundamentally different to indoors, in the way it is perceived and used by students. Outdoors can be designed to offer a broader range of attractive behavioral affordances than indoors. A rapidly growing body of research sheds light on those differences. This session will demonstrate how to translate research findings into actionable design and management approaches that could radically change ways in which student, parents, and teachers perceive and use schools. Varied approaches to new construction and renovation will be discussed. Whole school policies and practices will be discussed to promote school grounds as healthy, educational places for enjoyment, positive social relations, and learning about ecosystems and human dependency on nature.

Who Should Participate?

This webinar is intended for all advocates of play and natural play environments, including landscape architects, architects, planners, property managers, school administrators and educators. Special attention will be placed on the role of the school administrators/property managers and landscape architects in the development of naturalized play and recreation environments in school settings. 

Date and Registration

This webinar is complimentary and wil be held Tuesday, April 16, 2019 from 2pm-3pm ET. Click to register for this educational event today! Use code GAMETIME when completing your registration.