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Out & About FNS

@outandaboutfns

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🌱Forest and Nature School
🌱Rooted in play
*RECE & Forest Practitioner
*Play & Project Based Learning
🧠 Risky Play
🌱Community
🌱Play, Explore, Inquire

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117

37

10 days ago

🐛 Caterpillar hotels and the journey to childhood mindfulness, empathy and imagination. 🐛

Follow @outandaboutfns for more conversations surrounding child-led, play-based adventures in nature.🌿

#outandabout #renfrewcounty #petawawa #earlychildhoodeducation #outandaboutfns #whitewaterregion #beachburg #pembroke #forestandnatureschool #collaboration #myfm #outdooreducation #outdooreducator #riskyplay #riskyplaymatters #homeschool #alternativeeducation by @outandaboutfns

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19

a year ago

41

3

a year ago

it's all about being creative.

Shelter building is a whole process. It builds resilience too.
The design. The collaboration. The collecting of materials.
The plan. The follow through.

Then comes the failure. This is where resilience and regulation meet.
The lack of materials. The design isn't suitable for rain. It fell down. The clash of ideas when working with a partner or two or three.

Then the problem solving and key moments kick in.
New or more materials. New plan. New execution. New jobs are assigned.

This doesn't just happen once, but several, several times.
Shelter building is just so neat to observe! And very hard to join in or help. The step back is important.
But who said educators or adults can't build their own!?

I like to see what natural materials are best for ropes or ties to build shelters.

What is your favorite way to build a shelter? And if you're thinking you haven't built one in a long time or EVER...well, it might just be time to get outside and play, and be apart of a creative process.
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#outandabout #ottawavalley #getoutside #shelter #lovefailure taken in Out and About Forest and Nature School by @outandaboutfns

7

0

3 days ago

What do you know about a Mud Kitchen?✨

Our mud kitchen continues to get an upgrade and with that, competitions were had.

Have you ever had the pleasure of watching what occurs in the mud kitchen?
The designs, the ideas, and the creativity?

I wonder if adults had the opportunity to enjoy a mud kitchen, what would they create? Would it be something of idealistic perfection? or something realistic? Would they (we) worry a lot about being judged? or could you possibly just enjoy getting your hands dirty and letting whatever happens happen?

The learning and observations from a mud kitchen are quite vast.

What have you learned about a mud kitchen?

Thank you to @lifeinpines for capturing these moments and making them easy to share 💛🍁
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#outandaboutforestandnatureschool #mudkitchen #getoutside #earlychildhoodeducation #fallvibes taken in Out and About Forest and Nature School by @outandaboutfns

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7

8 days ago

Which personally, I think, might have been a great thing.

it was BUSY today at our Family and Fox Program.
My phone barely came out, which is also the absolute point of Forest School.

Sometimes I think too much about capturing the moments so families can see what we did, or track evidence of learning for later.

I'll say this. Learning happened. Connections were made. The play was amazing and we drank apple cider by the fire.

And I still made a little content.

I love it here, and the evidence lives in my brain 🧠

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#outandabout #earlychildhoodeducation #themoment #petawawa #getoutside by @outandaboutfns

23

1

14 days ago

I've noticed something about myself lately.

(Storytime, but I think it's worth it to take a moment to read)

I am always trying to get through the to-do as quickly as possible. Which as a small business owner makes sense - when the admin and tasks are done, THEN I can rest.

But the list is never complete.

I check off two things and three more tasks appear.

The task I thought would take me 30 minutes takes the entire day, and now today's list moves to tomorrow.
When will it end? (It doesn't. But like, I chose this right?)

Last week, when I was on the land exploring with the children, I noticed I was rushing through the day.
Let's go see this and then we will do this invitation and oh it's lunch time and now we have to try this.

Then all it took was one moment for me to stop and notice.

I noticed one child teaching another child how to tie their shoe. And not once, not twice, but I watched them tie and untie their shoe 10 times. They just sat there and enjoyed the time they were spending with their friends.

I watched them spend the time they were given to them by being present.

This moment inspired other friends to try their knot tying skills, and the whole afternoon was spent on a tarp amongst the trees, just being together.

I almost cried. I witnessed the present.

Once again, this place and this community has taught me to be in the moment, rather than thinking about what moment will have to come next.

It's not happening every day, because practice makes progress, but I know I want to witness my life and these moments rather than check them off.

How do you stay present?

#earlychildhoodeducation
#continuallearning #outandabout #present #getoutside taken in Out and About Forest and Nature School by @outandaboutfns

19

3

19 days ago

by @outandaboutfns

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2

20 days ago

Birch and Buds and Foxes and Friends 🦊
oh my!

What a magical first day back with new and old friends at Out and About!

Thank you @littlewolfphotog for capturing moments of blossoming friendships and excitement to be back together.

Our discussion revolved around Community Soup and how the approaching Fall is the best time to come together with friends and family to share the bounty of a garden.

it is also getting harder and harder for animals to find food, so we shared our bird seed and made feeders for the forest friends.

The play was everywhere, and the smiles were contagious.

We also read a great deal of stories 🧡

We highly recommend the book Community Soup by Alma Fullerton 🍲

🌿🍠

What's your favorite soup?
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#birchandbuds #foxprogram #outandaboutforestandnatureschool #community #petawawa by @outandaboutfns

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6

a month ago

Fall 2026: First day back with our Wolf Program 🍁

What an incredible first day at a new spot.

You would have thought that this Wolf Crew were old friends with the land as they immediately settled into play and curiosity.

Today we spent our time playing and exploring, getting to know the space and planning our adventures out.

Our interests led us into knot tying. 🪢
We learned knots that were helpful when building a shelter and how they were utilized in crafts as well.

The friends made an assortment of crafts such as home-made kaleidoscopes and necklaces, using knots to tie in their beads into place or ensure their string was adjustable.

They asked a lot of questions. When we asked them why they thought they asked so many questions they responded. "because we are curious".

Curiosity will continue to inspire us this season.

I am so looking forward to it.

#outandabout #petawawa #education #curiousity taken in Out and About Forest and Nature School by @outandaboutfns

23

0

a month ago

The mud at the end 🤣

Go on, get dirty!

We fully embraced a 90s Summer at @outandaboutfns

No screens, no inside play, just good ol’ fashioned outdoor fun no matter the weather.

Clearly the rain didn’t stop us.
From puddle jumping to rain water collecting, mud soups and milkshakes, we soaked it all in.

The last day of forest camp is here and although we’re sad to see the Summer break end and friends head off to school, we know we’ll see them again. Friendships were made, long-lasting memories formed, and new skills were learned.

There’s nothing quite like the nostalgia of outdoor play. by @outandaboutfns

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16

2 months ago

About the joy.

"Find out who you are and do it on purpose."
- Dolly Parton

The gift of witnessing children understand the world around them.
The joy of witnessing their work take root in their character.
The wonder of how they see things and solve problems in unique ways.

We are all about the joy.
The joy that comes after the struggles.
The joy that comes with the frustration.
The joy of building resilience.

The power of choosing who you want to be.

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#outandaboutforestandnatureschool #doitonpurpose #powerofchoice #dogood taken in Out and About Forest and Nature School by @outandaboutfns

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2 months ago