Lethbridge College breaks ground on massive outdoor play space renovation

A release from the college states the newly renovated area will support recent research around the development of children in the areas of outdoor, risky and loose parts play.

The space is used by the Hands-On Early Learning Centre, which provides daycare services to children of college students and some staff members, and it will be tied to curriculum in the Early Childhood Education program.

The renovations also provide a site for future approved Applied Research and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning activities.

Wendy Weninger, chair of the School of Human Services, says this will provide an amazing opportunity for children to have true outdoor play experiences.

“It will also allow for ECE students to see first-hand the effect of such a space on children’s development. Having so many partners as a part of this project has been very rewarding as they, too, see the tremendous value of this opportunity,” Weninger said.

The Alberta Government has recently developed an Early Learning and Child Care Curriculum Framework for Alberta, which is heavily grounded in experiential learning.

Once constructed, the children who attend the campus daycare will use this space each day and their outdoor play experiences will be documented over time.

Those results will be used for applied research studies, and this will make Lethbridge College the only program in Canada with a certified outdoor play space for teaching, learning and research.

“The inspiring outdoor play environment at the Hands-On Early Learning Centre will not only enrich children’s learning experiences but also expand opportunities for the faculty members to conduct applied research,” Early Childhood Education faculty member Bora Kim said, adding these research opportunities will enhance the quality of children’s outdoor play, strengthen relationships with industry partners and promote the college students’ participation in future research projects.

Twelve community partners from the construction industry are donating time, supplies and expertise to create the play area.

Lethbridge College has delivered ECE programming to students for over 35 years, with recent efforts in this area including:

– a symposium hosted by the college in December
– two faculty members who joined a research excursion to Scotland in February to learn more about the practices in that country
– hosting the college’s first pop-up loose parts playground
– a conference for industry professionals in March.

Construction is expected to take place through June, with the area open to children in July.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Lethbridge College breaks ground on massive outdoor play space renovation

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