MHC child care program inviting families with young kids to all-weather outdoor play

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on September 26, 2024.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

Medicine Hat College’s Early Learning & Child Care program is taking the exploration of outdoor play and early childhood development to Kin Coulee Park this fall.

To facilitate this, they are inviting families with children ages 2-5 out to participate in some all-weather play.

“We started our class by talking about how outdoor play benefits children’s development in a bunch of different ways. Their physical development, their gross motor skills, their fine motor skills, their cognitive development and all the thinking, exploration and investigating that is happening,” explained instructor for the outdoor pedagogy class, Jennifer Usher. “Communication and social skills are being built too as they share, collaborate and co-operate.”

The first activity took place Sept. 12 and focused on building in nature, where children used open-ended materials to imagine and create. From there, students were able to implement their learning.

Second-year student Amrit Kaur said she noticed children engaging in a variety of activities, such as hopping on steps, balancing items and creating music.

“We brought lots of provocations for them so they’re learning a lot and we are interacting with them as well as with their parents,” said Kaur. “The children are coming up and trying to engage by themselves, and we are also encouraging them to come and join the applications.”

Activities will take place in sun, rain and snow, and continue throughout the semester with a variety of themes.

Registration is free for families as a way to give back to the community, with the next activity taking place Oct. 1. Space is limited so those interested are encouraged to register swiftly at it.ly/3X7iPnw.

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