By Sean Doocy
If you were walking in the Mission District on Saturday, October 19, you may have come across an unusual scene: A group of adults wandering the neighborhood with little baskets, gathering pinecones, tree bark, leaves, sticks, flowers, and other natural materials. Was this a scavenger hunt? Not quite. These explorers were all early educators participating in a nature play workshop, combing the streets of the Mission to gather gems from the natural environment. After returning to their home base at John O’Connell High School, baskets in hand, they engaged in a group activity about how to develop a deeper understanding with their surrounding habitat, even in a dense urban environment like San Francisco.
This was just one of the many workshops setting John O’Connell High School abuzz with energy. Members of San Francisco’s early education community came together for the city’s first Nature Play Champions Conference, a full day of hands-on learning and engagement around the theme of nature play for young children. Organized by the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) with funding from the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, this event brought together early educators from across the city, including teachers and directors at child care centers as well as home-based family child care providers.
Participants brought with them a range of experiences with nature play. Some had deep expertise in implementing a nature-based curriculum, while others were just dipping their toes into these concepts for the first time. No matter their level of experience, everyone showed up with bright-eyed enthusiasm and a desire to learn and connect with their fellow educators.
LIIF assembled leading voices from the Bay Area nature play movement – from SF Rec & Parks and the Bay Area Discovery Museum to Parks Plus Creation, SFUSD, local family child care providers, and KABOOM! – to host interactive workshops both indoors in classrooms and outside in the school’s garden. The day was organized with the conviction that the best way to learn about nature play is to get your hands dirty with engaging activities. In keeping with that theme, there were no screens, slide presentations, or technology all day – and nobody shed a tear for their absence.
The conference also featured a keynote from Yensing Sihapanya, Executive Director of Family Connections Centers, and wrapped up with an inspiring panel discussion about how to become a nature play champion, moderated by Daisy Nguyen, an early care and education reporter at KQED.
As San Francisco leads the national movement to build deeper connections between children and nature, more educators are recognizing the exciting possibilities of introducing natural materials into the classroom and bringing young children outside to engage with their environment. For this cohort of early educators, the conference was just the beginning – they will carry that energy and momentum into an ongoing Nature Play Champions professional development series that will run through June 2025. Throughout the year, they will champion this cause in their own early care and education programs, helping to spread the idea of nature play across the city.
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Nature Play Champions is an initiative of the Low Income Investment Fund, with funding provided by the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund. Special thanks to all the speakers, workshop facilitators, John O’Connell High School staff, and participants for making this an inspiring event!
