Beyond the Fence: Navigating Risk and Safety in Nature-Based Early Learning by Dr. Rachel Larimore

Early education educators around the world are becoming more enthusiastic about nature-based learning. Many are also curious about venturing beyond the fenced play area to more wild or natural spaces. However, one of the biggest questions is, “How do we keep kids safe when we leave the play area?” Author,  professional development provider, and consultant, Dr. Rachel Larimore from Samara Early Learning, will help you answer this question in this webinar!

There are many safety considerations when taking children outdoors, particularly when going beyond the play area. Things like Site Assessments, Benefit-Risk Assessments, and Detailed Protocols are vital steps to ensuring children and teachers have safe outdoor experiences.

This eye-opening webinar will first explore the differences between hazards, risks, and fears. Rachel will guide you in assessing risks in nature, such as potentially harmful plants, animals, weather, and topographic features. You will learn to analyze the hazards and risks in these spaces. This webinar will also help with the next step—identifying actions to take before and during visits to that site to ensure the benefits outweigh the risks. This includes developing policies and procedures that are implemented program-wide. 

Rachel designed to support program leaders and administrators, Rachel will briefly share the core principles of a nature-based approach, including the three spaces of the Inside, Outside, and Beyond. With that common language established, the webinar will then focus on how to conduct site assessments, benefit-risk assessments, and write detailed protocols. In this session, we’ll discuss:

• Differences between hazards, risks, and fears

• Hazard considerations related to plants, animals, weather, topography, and humans

• How to write a detailed safety protocol for medium- to high-risk activities

• Language we can use with children to support safe outdoor adventures.

You will learn to...

1. Describe the components of a site assessment.

2. Explain potential hazards related to plants and animals.

3. List the core components of a detailed safety protocol.

4. Describe how they might talk with children about the benefits and risks of an activity.