Seven Ways to Play Outside with Story

Do you ever wonder how to inspire the children in your life to spend more time outdoors?

Our young people face an unprecedented disconnect from nature. Research shows profound costs to our growing alienation from the natural systems that sustain us, not only for our children but for our communities and for our natural world. The forest and nature school learning movement addresses these critical societal issues by situating the learner at the centre of 7 relationships: land, trust, power, play, risk, learning, and story.

At the Edmonton Forest School Society (EFSS), we experience the power of story every day as we play through the seasons, grounding us in our relationships with ourselves, each other, and the land.

“It’s through stories that we’ve come to know each other. We trust each other because we’ve trusted each other with our stories. We know each other through our stories. Storytelling = connection = community = joy and comfort = health and survival.” -- Gather by Richard Van Camp, p. 22

Seven Storytelling Ideas to Inspire Outdoor Play

So you want to get outside and play? Here are seven ways EFSS educators engage with stories outside to invite and extend outdoor play. We hope you find some helpful ideas for your own outdoor play!

Read outside, together!

Could you build on familiar storytime routines, but shift them outdoors? An anchor point of most EFSS programs is a “morning meeting,” where educators share a story while learners eat their snacks. We choose stories related to the interests of the children in the class, changes we’re seeing around us in the park, or social-emotional concepts we’re practising together. After the story, educators might ask an open-ended “I wonder” question, and quite often the central idea of the story becomes a jump-off point for the rest of our play that day. An accessible story to start with is “Not a Stick” by Antoinette Portis.

Make stories available outside.

What’s on your list of essential outdoor supplies: first aid, extra clothes, snacks… stories? EFSS educators ensure storybooks are available to learners in all seasons. Learners will access them independently or with an educator when they are interested and ready. These books provide space for rest and connection, help learners regulate when tired or experiencing big feelings, and spark curiosity and imagination play! Want to keep your books dry? String up a book clothesline just above the ground.

Let the land be your stage!

Want to invite children to share their own stories? Try introducing puppets and costumes into your outdoor play! When EFSS educators set out costumes on a log, or string up a sheet over a rope to create a “puppet theatre,” learners are invited to develop their own characters and plots. Educators support by playing alongside learners, asking open-ended questions, and modelling their own storytelling: “Hi! My name is Frankie the frog puppet! I’m going to the mountains for a hike. What’s your name? Where are you going?” Costumes can be as simple as the bin of old hats and scarves at the back of the closet.

Prompt story with stones or pictures.

Looking for a little more structure? Story stones or picture cards can be a simple invitation to shared storytelling with as much or as little structure as you want or need. EFSS educators often use story stones in a small group or one-on-one with a child, where each person chooses a stone (or picture) and everyone takes a turn adding to the story based on the picture they hold. As we practise listening and taking turns to speak, we create a story together – these usually end in lots of laughter! Choose pictures that inspire imagination and relate to your child’s interest, or spend time creating picture cards or story stones together.

Hang up a hammock!

Where does your child feel safe and connected? We’ve noticed that hanging a hammock near where we play can invite learners into a shared story in unexpected and magical ways! When a learner needs a break from group play or some quiet time to regulate, an educator will invite them to swing in the hammock. As the educator gently pushes the hammock and tells a story about characters experiencing a situation similar to the child, other learners are drawn to the story and might climb a nearby tree or offer to give pushes to the hammock to be part of the story. As the hammock becomes a familiar safe space, learners engage independently, taking turns pushing each other or swinging together, sharing stories and laughter. The hammock has become a boat on the ocean, a rocket ship going to the moon, and a burrito full of beans… what will it become for your child?

How do you hear the stories of the land where you play? Invite your child to hear, see, smell, and taste the stories around them! When we introduce tools that invite noticing – binoculars, magnifying glasses, treasure boxes, maps, journals, and plant/animal guides – children are empowered to be curious, ask questions, and participate in the story of the land. What did this yellow leaf see on its journey to the ground? Who lives in this dead stump? Whose tracks are these, where do you think they were going? How could we find out?

Protect and model space and time for imagination.

What time and space do you protect for unstructured outdoor play? The primary way children make meaning of their context, is that play provides the building blocks for greater cognitive functioning and learning for children and adults. EFSS programs provide repeated access to play in the same place through the seasons. Educators protect large chunks of time for children to follow their interests and craft their own stories as their play unfolds with peers. This shift from “I’m bored!” to “I don’t want to leave the forest” takes time and practice. When children are supported to build the social-emotional and physical literacy skills needed to play outdoors together, they become curious, confident human beings, empowered to create and share their own stories. Want to hold this space for your child? Here are some tips for supporting your child in unstructured play.

Richard Louv asks “What could our lives and our children’s lives be like if our days and nights were as immersed in nature as they are in technology?

Since time immemorial, stories have continued as a powerful invitation to relate, wonder, regulate, and play outside. Through storytime, storybooks, story stones, puppets, costumes, hammocks, tools for noticing, and time, invite the children in your life outside and into a deeper connection with themselves, others, and the land where you play!

How will you play outside with story?

About EFSS

Founded in 2020, the Edmonton Forest School Society (EFSS)  is a not-for-profit society working to provide opportunities for children to access forest and nature learning in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan. The Board of Directors is made up of educators, parents and community members who have come together over a deep passion for forest and nature learning, recognizing its unique ability to grow treaty understandings and create resilient, empathetic, curious, confident, nature-loving children.