One of the key goals of the new federal childcare funding is creating inclusive spaces. Designs that anticipate and minimize barriers such as physical access, communication, and cognitive fatigue -- benefit everyone in your childcare centre -- children and adults.

Informed by examples from Canadian centres and classrooms, this presentation will review some furniture and play resources that can help create an inclusive childcare environment, guided by universal design for learning:

• Tables and work areas
• Outdoor Play
• App for easily creating visual supports and communication aids
• Easy sensory environments
• Dolls and figurines that can foster inclusion and empathy
• Play resources that support differing abilities

Join us for ideas, inspiration and strategies for your centre to include children who have extra support needs.

Duration: 30 mins

The nationwide expansion of childcare makes it an exciting but also daunting time for a lot of early childhood educators. Is a new room or centre in your future? Or are you thinking your existing space could do with a refresh?

Join us as Dr Diane Kashin, RECE shares her rich experience as a centre supervisor, professor of ECE and consultant on how to get started planning a space, including locating learning areas, flow and the seven initial steps to planning a room.
 Plus how play responsive pedagogy, your community and contemporary design trends can help shape a learning environment that is truly a third teacher.

Duration: 60 mins

In this second room planning web workshop, respected ECE educator and author Dr. Diane Kashin (RECE) will show how to maximize the potential of your space through careful planning.

If you’re planning a new early years learning or caring environment, join us as Diane delves into storage, building in durability and how to celebrate students.

 She will share strategies, tips and examples that sort through specific purpose-built Early Years furniture – Roomscapes by Community Playthings -- and layout choices that reinforce pedagogically sound practices.

Duration: 25 mins

How do you future proof a child care space? Children put a lot of wear and tear on furniture, toys and all manner of play resources, demographics could change from year to year, not to mention tastes and trends.

Whether you’re upgrading a learning area or leaping into a big build, join us for ideas to help you plan for resilient learning environment.

This session will share:

• The importance of the materials used in manufacturing
• Choosing furniture for flexiblity
• Open ended play resources

Second in a series of 20 minutes sessions where you’ll see tips & strategies and real world Canadian examples of floor plans with Community Playthings furniture. Plus get access to exclusive resources – guides, sample layouts, -- to help you plan a childcare room or learning area that lasts for generations!

Duration: 20 mins

When you step into your new child care room, you want to hear “Ahh!” not D’Oh! 

If the learning environment is the third teacher, planning should be meticulous, involving the entire community and a lot of fun, too. 

Whether you’re upgrading a learning area or leaping into a big build, join us for ideas on planning your new space, this session will share:

• Tips for working with an architect/designer
• Walls are a resource
• Locating learning areas/zones
• Maximizing floor space for local licensing standards
• Some common opening day disasters and how to avoid them.

First in a series of 20 minutes sessions where you’ll see tips & strategies and real world Canadian examples, plus get exclusive resources – guides, floor planner, sample layouts -- to help you plan your childcare room or learning area!

Duration: 45 mins

Join us as we explore classroom layout applying the Curiosity Approach to learning.

This web workshop will consider the child’s rights in classroom design, inspired by noted EC educator and author Sandra Duncan. We’ll look at how we can implement these rights into classroom layouts that respect the need for play and exploration, active learning and creating opportunities for thinking critically.

Join Julie as she shares how you, too, can create a classroom that is child-centred, accessible and that ignites a child’s natural curiosity to explore.

Duration: 45 mins

Explore the art of creating provocations that spark wonderment and inquiry in the mind of our youngest learners. 
Together, we will discover how to build provocations that incorporate purchased and found materials that will ignite curiosity for children of all ages.

 Join us to discover:

• Many inspiring examples for engaging children from toddlers to kindergarten ages.
• Combining different colour, shapes, sizes and textures
• Developmental and learning benefits of speaking to all the senses in the many languages of learning.

Plus a draw prize and certificate of completion.

Duration: 45 mins

Before and after school programs face unique challenges, different ages, roll-in-roll-out storage, often in a shared space. After a long school day some children will have energy to burn, others will just want to chill.

Join us to see flexible play resources focusing on ages 9-12 and versatile furnishings designed for lasting portability indoors and out. Including:

• Sensory spaces for self-regulation
• Rolling locking cabinets and other storage solutions for indoors or out
• New construction sets for life size imaginative builds
• Robots that develop coding skills, without screens

In 25 minutes, we’ll share examples of open-ended resources that prompt collaborative play, helping to develop new physical, cognitive, and social skills that nonetheless differentiate from the school day. Plus draw prizes and certificates of attendance.

Duration: 25 mins

Beautiful and interesting spaces for children not only enriches play opportunities but encourages self exploration. In this presentation Mark Rocamora, ECE will show how the design of the learning environments can makes connections to Developmentally Appropriate Practice in your learning environments.

Drawing on his frontline experience at Centennial College's Early Learning Centre at Progress Campus, Mark will share examples of how to provoke, invite and encourage creative expression using a variety of materials in different learning areas.

Duration: 45 mins

Before and after school programs face unique challenges of engaging children of different ages, often in a shared space. After a busy school day some children will want to wind down with physical big muscle play others with thoughtful focused activities.

Join us to see play resources for a wide range of ages (up to aprx. 12+) and mobile, portable furnishings, for indoors and out. Including:

• Life size construction tools that explore the physics of simple machines.
• Rolling locking cabinets and other storage solutions for indoors or out
• Blocks, vehicles and games for cooperative big muscles play outdoors.
• Stackable tables with quick, toolless height adjustmen
• New magnetic construction sets.
• Quality arts and crafts materials for projects that can be easily stored unfinished
• Screen-free robots you can take outdoors

In 25 minutes, we’ll share examples of how age neutral resources can prompt collaborative play, helping to develop new physical, cognitive, and social skills while still being different from the school day.

Duration: 25 mins

Furniture and resources that target gross muscle work – gyms, outdoor features, trikes, life size blocks – are some of the biggest investments in a childcare centre. And with concerns around health and socialization, opportunities for risky and cooperative play indoors and out are so important. Climbing, riding, lifting, transporting, dropping -- these materials are also subject to a lot of wear and tear.
In this session we’ll look at:

• The importance of the materials and construction and what to look for
• Considering accessibility and inclusion
• How to get durability without sacrificing flexibility and open endedness
• Cleaning and care including wood.

Third in a series of 25 minutes webinars where you’ll see tips & strategies and realworld Canadian examples, plus get exclusive resources – guides, sample layouts -- to help you plan indoor or outdoor learning areas that last for generations!

Duration: 25 mins

How can your early years room foster a love of reading? Cozy quiet nooks, thoughtfully displayed books -- learning environments indoors and outdoors can entice children to reading. While play resources can enhance stories and support the development of the decoding skills early learners need.

Celebrate I Love to Read month and join Iain and Bogdan for ideas for engaging literacy learning areas and designing dedicated reading environments:

• Book furniture for early years classrooms and libraries.
• Nooks for self-selected reading delight.
• Resources for letter recognition and decoding.
• Creating multilingual literacy materials.
• Neat ideas for infant areas and taking literacy outside, too.

Duration: 40 mins

If a new early year’s classroom is in your future, you have to consider Roomscapes. A unique collection of interconnecting shelves, gates, and dividers, Roomscapes is a flexible system that can turn any open space into a learning environment. Discover the power of a well-organized classroom that genuinely becomes the third teacher: managing flow, encouraging positive behaviours, and inviting self-directed learning.

 In 25 minutes, Iain and Bogdan will show how Roomscapes can transform a space -- tool free, without an expensive build-in -- that can adapt to your community’s changing needs. We’ll also look at how to get started within an existing space while profiling some real Canadian childcare centres with Roomscapes.

Duration: 25 mins
 

Easy to take for granted, but if the environment is so critical to early learning, then tables and chairs might be one of your most significant teaching tools.

We’ll look at some innovative Community Playthings designs: from furnishings for young toddlers transitioning from high-chairs to back saving work stations and chairs for the adults in the classroom.

We’ll review tips for selecting seating and surface heights and how to create flexible, responsive, collaborative spaces with these workhorses of the classroom.

Duration: 20 mins
 

For over a year the team from Progress Child Care Centre have been creating hundreds of engaging visuals, quickly and easily with Widgit Online: schedules, vocabulary labels, name tags and more.

 Janet Burchert (Manager) and Mark Rocamora (educator) return to update us on how their centre in Centennial College is using Widgit’s dual language tools to reflect and connect with their multi-cultural community. They’ll share single and dual language activity resources and engaging invitations that they’ve developed.

 Using clear consistent visual materials is good practice that is mandated in childcare centres in many jurisdictions across the country.

 Join us as Mark and Janet share how visuals created with Widgit Online can fit into an early year's context and reflect on the impact of this implementation on the children, their parents, and staff.

Duration: 60 mins

Using clear consistent visual materials such as schedules, recipes, vocabulary labels and name tags is good practice that is mandated in childcare centres in many jurisdictions across the country.

Janet Burchert, Manager at Progress Child Care Centre at Centennial College will share how her team has been creating engaging picture rich visual supports with Widgit Online. Presented with Susie Blackstein-Adler (OT, M.Ed.) who has over two decades of experience using symbols to support language and concept development and who guided and coached the team at Progress.

 Sharing lots of practical examples and tips they will talk about symbols, how they fit into an early year's context and reflect on what they have learned implementing Widgit Online in a childcare centre.

Duration: 60 mins

Geometry and spatial sense is a critical yet underserved area in mathematics teaching. And after many months of disrupted learning, many educators are searching for ways to refresh and even restore foundational math knowledge and skills.

 In this third in our series of web workshops on math in the early years, join Usha Shanmugathasan as we unpack curricular goals and understand the why and how of geometry and spatial sense instruction in a kindergarten to gr. 2 classroom.

 You will leave the session with practical ideas to implement whether you are teaching virtually, or face to face or both!

Duration: 60 mins

Join us as we explore a variety of math possibilities in the outdoor environment. After many months of disrupted learning, many educators are searching for ways to refresh and even restore foundational math knowledge and skills. In this second of our series of web workshops on math in the early years, we’ll look at practical strategies for engaging children in math in the outdoor classroom focusing on toddlers to kindergarten ages.

We will talk about what nature and the built outdoor environment affords us when practicing numeracy skills. Plus, how educators can take familiar indoor math learning activities and materials outdoors.

Duration: 60 mins

Critical in so many aspects of daily life, numbers and number sense is so important for young students. And after many months of disrupted learning, teachers are finding foundational knowledge and skills need to be restored.

Join Lesley Pike and Melissa Seco as they share ideas and intervention strategies they’ve used to replenish and reinvigorate number sense in the early years’ classroom. They’ll look at hands-on, innovative and fun Number Sense instructional strategies for your kindergarten to grade 2 programs.

Duration: 60 mins
 

In this session, experienced teachers and professional development leaders Melissa Seco and Lesley Pike look at unconventional ways of building coding skills in the early years.

Classrooms right across Canada are including coding in earlier grades for example, the new Ontario curriculum includes coding in Grade 1.

Join us to see how marble runs, patterning and games like sudoku, all promote the skills needed to code!

Duration: 60 mins
 

Classrooms right across Canada are including coding in earlier grades for example, the new Ontario curriculum includes coding in Grade 1. In this session, experienced teachers and professional development leaders Melissa Seco and Lesley Pike, will continue the conversation on: 

• How to transition from unplugged coding experiences to plugged coding experiences.
• How to incorporate coding relevant applications, websites, and devices into early years education programs.

They’ll illustrate strategies and techniques with the popular teaching robots Blue-Bot, Bee-Bot, Cubetto and Botley. 

Duration: 60 mins
 

We will also share some things that we have found helpful to have when coding in early grades, based on some of the learning opportunities we've had (aka mistakes!) and how we've learned from them.

Presenter:

Melissa Seco  Melissa has been both a teacher and Instructional Leader in Mathematics/Numeracy (K-8) and Early Years (K-2). Melissa’s main areas of interest include: early years, visual arts, mathematics, STEM, and inquiry-based learning. Currently she is a Grade 1/2 teacher and Digital Lead Learner (DLL), and she occasionally teaches AQ courses at OISE.

Lesley Pike  Lesley is a Toronto based educator who has taught Kindergarten to Grade 6 and worked c

Check out some popular early years classroom coding robots that don’t need screens. Classrooms right across Canada are including coding in earlier grades, with the new Ontario curriculum including coding starting in Kindergarten. In this session we’ll compare and contrast the features and design of Bee Bot, Blue Bot, Botley, LEGO Coding Express, Cubetto and the new Rugged Robot for outdoors, exploring how they can fit into pedagogical goals. Receive a certificate of completion and enter to win a Cubetto.

Hands on STEM exploration has never been more important and blocks deliver: geometry, volumes, construction, the basics of physics and engineering and artistic expression in 3 dimensions.

Join us to explore new additions for your block and construction learning area – curved, notched, cylinders, figurines and vehicles; Polydron, UHL, Plus Plus and Octoplay; wood, magnetic, and sustainable plastic alternatives.

Plus receive a certificate of attendance and enter a draw for blocks and other construction resources for your classroom.

Duration: 25 mins

The original STEM learning resource! Join us for a full course 20 min blocks feast. One of the most essential and foundational learning areas of any early childhood classrooms, this session will fill your plate with the proportional essentials, amuse your bouche with figurines and vehicles and spice it up with bling to inspire creative expression. And we won’t forget about al fresco - blocks outdoors, too.

Duration: 20 mins
 

Engaging exploration and loose parts play we’ll look at how harnessing light, dark, colour and reflection, children can develop important STEM skills while engaging their imagination and creative expression. Join Bogdan and product manager, Anna Coules as we delve into:

• Options for creating an inclusive sensory space.
• How different light appliances from LED panels to furnishings with light built in, compare.
• Low cost, easily implementable light and colour upgrades.
• Stacking sand and other natural elements with light.

Plus activity ideas for science, math, creative arts, even literacy and communication.

Duration: 30 mins

Samantha and the team at the EarlyOn program in Baawaating (Sault Ste. Marie) believe that Indigenous children must learn about the forces that shape them. Indigenous identity must be fostered at every opportunity.

The culture of First Nations’ children - their languages and kinship systems - must be modelled, taught and celebrated so that Indigenous children grow to be proud of who they are.

This session will share a snapshot of the unique history of First Nations people from the perspective of Indigenous early childhood educators. How that perspective inspired the methodology used to create an Indigenous culturally based early years family resource centre that places the knowledge and worldview of First Nations’ peoples at the centre of learning for parents/caregivers and their children.

Duration: 60 mins

With story telling and active play educators in an early years classroom can engage young children to introduce Indigenous philosophies. But educators are often reluctant to try and don’t know where to begin.

 This session will provide ideas and inspiration by describing real world strategies from a child care centre in Winnipeg. Tara will share the experiences, books and resources she’s used to bring Indigenous teachings to children at the University of Winnipeg Child Care Centre.

Duration: 60 mins
 

The presentation will highlight the connection between self regulation and well being and identity, and how we can foster a sense of belonging for our students through holistic approach.

Presenter: Usha Shanmugathasan

Usha was part of Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy, the all-kindergarten school's first faculty as a Lead Math Teacher creating innovative programs such as Math Studio and Expressive Arts.

Today she teaches JK-1, while pursuing a Masters of Education at OISE/UT in Educational Leadership and Policy

New play resources and online tools can help make your centre inviting to anyone in your community and enrich young people’s cultural experiences. Join us as we look at recent multi-cultural, anti-bias additions to LKG’s 2022 collection that can enhance dramatic play, literacy, communication, and creative arts exploration in any early year’s classroom. Plus request the certificate of completion and you’ll enter a draw for our prize pack of multi-cultural, anti-bias play resources.

New in furnishings and resources for creating multi-cultural, comforting environments that can reduce anxiety and increase engagement. Therapy dolls, light and reflection, engaging textures, multi-cultural themes, and home-like furnishings to create a calming space. Plus, a new cloud-based app for easily creating classroom visuals for clear communication even in dozens of languages.

Duration: 45 mins

Outdoor areas can mean so much more for early childhood educators than a place for children to burn off excess energy. But where to begin in transforming an outdoor play area into an outdoor classroom?

Join Iain and Bogdan as we look at planning your outdoor learning area.

• Organizing your space into learning areas
• Rot Rules –embracing natural processes in your space
• Balancing nature in your furnishings while protecting your investment
• Incorporating water
• Making room for trikes and scooters

Plus sample plans, care guides and other materials to help you reimagine your outdoor area.

Whether your centre is adjacent to a woodlot, or surrounded by tarmac, we’ll share the LKG furnishings play resources and strategies that can help make discovery learning outdoors possible.   

Taking learning outdoors is so important for a childcare centre or early years classsroom: health, socialization and the rich stimulus of fresh air. In 2024 we’re seeing the trend for open-ended, versatile furnishings for a flexible outdoor learning environment, grow. Join us to take a closer look at the latest in innovative offerings that can transform your outdoor play area:

• Art tables, easels and storage from Outlast for an inspiring outdoor studio.
• Canadian made water, sand and mud centres made from cedar by Tuya.
• Cedar Playhouse, picnic tables and puppet theatre – transforms and creates a focal point for an outdoor play area.
• New durable, resources for mud and sand, including sustainably made trucks and pails from Denmark.

And More...!!

Duration: 45 mins

Outdoor learning doesn’t stop when the snow falls. Many Canadian jurisdictions mandate outdoor learning for kindergarten, and pre-school year-round. And fantastic natural learning opportunities abound -- freeze, melt, snow, ice etc.

In 25 minutes, we’ll share some practical tips and strategies for caring for and maximizing the life of your outdoor classroom equipment. Including:

• Inspecting, lubricating and simple fixes for trikes, scooters, turtle buses and strollers.
• How to care for different outdoor wood furnishing: acetylated, cedar, eucalyptus and Thermory wood
• Safe cleaning and refinishing tips

And More...!!

Duration: 25 mins

Our outdoor environments are all so often underutilized and looked upon as a space to let children burn off their energy and solely engage in their free play.

The outdoors affords children with opportunities to explore and learn about the world around them and can be viewed as a classroom without walls.

 In this session, we will discover and discuss the possibilities when recreating our indoor learning environment in the outdoors, regardless of the weather.

Where: Virtual
Duration: 50 mins

Across Canada, early years educators are embracing the challenge of taking their classrooms outdoors. Iain (LKG Sales Manager) and Bogdan (Director of Marketing) will demonstrate a variety of furnishings for teaching outdoors that harness a child’s natural need to play and explore.

Topics discussed: 

• Explore the world of Outlast by Community Playthings. See what sets these products apart and how they are built to last a lifetime, in all weather conditions.

• Compare various wood options for outdoors, including Outlast’s acytelated wood, Canadian red cedar and other options.
• See examples and ideas for implementing these products in a variety of environments to help take indoor curricular strands - creative arts, math, language arts, science etc. - outside
• Learn sanitization and care tips

Informed by pedagogy and real world examples, this presentation will give teachers, ECE’s, centre managers, principals and administrators practical information for sorting through a variety of outdoor learning products.

Refreshing your outdoor classroom or planning a new space, you’ll want to join Iain and Bogdan for an overview of new furnishings and resources for the outdoors.

The latest in Thermory wood and in Canadian made Red Cedar furniture - benches, mud kitchens and water tables. New play to learn resources from stone rollers, to play food, blocks and more.

Wood outdoor learning equipment and furniture that inspires independent, open-ended play. From a tables and benches, to blocks and mud kitchens, the Outlast line of weatherproof wood furniture is warrantied not to warp shrink or rot even in Canadian conditions for life. Smooth surfaces for writing and drawing, water tables and mud kitchens for investigation and experimentation, a block and plank system that fosters engineering, gross motor development and risky play. We’ll show you how Outlast – endlessly, flexible, and portable – can adapt to your changing needs without the cost of a built-in play-structure. Plus, what happens when you stick an Outlast table in a frozen pond for 6 months. 

In this session, Looking to update you learning areas after a long school year? Need something fresh for summer programs?Join LKG Product Manager Anna Coules for a look at some new resources and furnishings for both indoor and outdoor spaces. Including:

• New locally made outdoor furnishings made from Canadian cedar.
• Stunning new additions to the popular Sense of Place dramatic play furniture designed for our youngest learners.
• Engaging introductory loose parts sets made from natural wood and wool.
• Delightful cork blocks and toys for indoors and out.
• Unique magnetic building sets.

Plus tips, draw prizes and a certificate of completion for all who join us. 

Duration: 20 mins.

In this session, beamed live from Schorndorf Germany, you’ll see how today’s German pre-schools (kindergartens) incorporate learning resources into their classroom practice to generate learning through play.

 Learn with Ingrid Burkhardt -- educator, professional development leader and product manager with Dusyma – how curriculum expectations and pedagogies have shaped Dusyma’s offering since it’s inception, over a hundred years ago.

Duration: 45 mins.

Join Dr Diane Kashin, RECE for a webinar on loose parts provision in early learning environments. Loose parts are open-ended materials that spark children’s imagination, agency and learning in wonderous ways. These tactile and versatile materials deserve more than just a loose parts shelf, as they can support all learning areas and can be featured throughout the environment. This webinar will focus on the value, curation, and placement of loose parts. It will encourage thinking about how to offer loose parts invitations in ways that support children’s exploration, discovery, play and inquiry.

Duration: 1 Hour

Are the cubbies and backpacks of your children overflowing with arts-and-crafts projects? Does it all look the same and fridge worthy?  

In a process approach to creative arts, rather than step-by-step instructions where the end product is the goal, the focus is on exploring new techniques with quality materials as close to “adult” as possible, to develop skills and engage creativity.

Amanda Benton, Early Years Support Specialist and RECE educator, will show how key 21st century skills -- innovation, problem solving, self-direction – are engaged by a process approach.

She’ll share strategies for an arts learning area with a process focus including

• Invitations that ignite imagination and creativity
• Organizing for self-regulation
• Locating learning areas/zones
• Displaying Work

Join us for a practical introduction and learn how you can get started with a process focussed creative arts approach.

Duration: 1 Hour

Where: Virtual
Duration: 45 mins

Why wood? Made by nature, wood has so many benefits when used for toys. In this free webinar, Dr. Diane Kashin, RECE of Technology Rich Inquiry Based Research will focus on the developmental and learning benefits of wooden toys and will feature some of our favourites!

Wood speaks to the senses. At a time when families are looking to purchase gifts for children that have meaning and are meaningful, wooden toys provide an alternative to the commercialism of plastics. This session will share Diane’s love of wooden toys! We will learn why wooden toys never go out of style and can be passed down from generation to generation.

DURÉE: 1 Heure

Le Coronavirus a complètement transformé les milieux de la petite enfance.

Cet atelier vise à poursuivre notre réflexion sur les adaptations à prévoir, nos attitudes, nos attentes, les possibilités de réaménagement tout en explorant les opportunités présentes dans l’apprentissage en plein air afin de continuer d’offrir un programme de qualité et sécuritaire pour lequel nous sommes reconnus.

En profitant du développement professionnel offert en ligne nous pouvons augmenter nos connaissances, notre efficacité et notre créativité afin de surmonter cette crise.

Présentatrice: Hélène Pouliot-Cleare

Passionnée par l’éducation, Hélène Pouliot-Cleare œuvre dans le milieu de l’éducation depuis plus de 40 ans dans le Centre-Sud-Ouest de l’Ontario, en plus d’animer des ateliers et formations au plan provincial, national et international, en français comme en anglais. Ses conférences abordent une grande variété de sujets liés à la petite enfance, à l’apprentissage de la langue dans un milieu minoritaire, au leadership et à la motivation personnelle.

2021 has brought us some delightful engaging new additions to our loose parts collection: colourful, earthy, and even a bit of dazzle. Join us to see what’s new, and some of the unique favourites in Louise Kool’s loose parts collection. We’ll also look at new tables for indoors and out for sorting and exploring, trays, sanitization tips and more.