Workshop description
This workshop is designed for people who already believe in the benefits and importance of children’s self-directed play, and are looking to learn more about adventure playgrounds, playwork and adventurous play! We’ll share professional vocabulary to help examine nuances of risk, environment, advocacy and more. This workshop will include specific methods for risk assessment, management, and incremental ways to increase children's opportunities for play in any setting. New terms will be grounded in stories from direct practice with children to illustrate how play support (like play itself) can most usefully thought of as a process or approach. This workshop will be collaborative, reflective and inspire participants to start making changes in their own setting right away.

For more information on Pop-Up Adventure Play please visit their website at here!

Workshop Schedule

4:00 pm Pop up put on by Earth Day Canada 
5:30 pm BBQ for adults (included in ticket price)
6:30 to 8:30 pm Workshop

Facilitator Bios

Morgan Leichter-Saxby
Morgan trained as a playworker and play ranger in London, first with Penny Wilson and then Bob Hughes. In 2010, she co-founded Pop-Up Adventure Play US to address the lack of playwork knowledge in her home country. Since then she has presented at over a dozen conferences, including the keynote at the Children’s Development Forum in Bogota, and trained frontline staff at new and established sites. At Pop-Up Adventure Play, Morgan leads on training and coordinates writing projects such as The Loose Parts Manual , the Pop-Up Play Shop Toolkit and a chapter in the recently released book “Playing It Up - With Loose Parts, Playpods, and Adventure Playgrounds” . Morgan is based in the US but also working towards a PhD at Leeds Beckett University in the UK. Together, Morgan and Suzanna designed and delivered the Playworker Development Course, and completed tours of the US, Australia, and the world.

Andy Hinchcliffe
Andy has more than ten years experience in playwork, beginning as a volunteer with out-of-school provision, moving onto managing and developing a playwork-guided community and children’s centre in Bradford. He graduated in 2012 with a First-Class Honours Degree in Playwork following work with Fraser Brown’s charity in Romania and later researching theories around deep, dark and criminal play. Andy has been involved with Pop-Up Adventure Play since 2012, supporting the 2014 US national tour, 2015 World Tour and has recently co-worked alongside SCV Adventure Play on a loose-parts recess initiative in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Suzanna Law
Suzanna began as a mobile playworker, or playranger, in socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods in Manchester, UK. She then pursued a second BA, and graduated in 2012 with a First-Class Honours Degree in Playwork. At the same time, she helped to found Pop-Up Adventure Play in both the UK and US, and was Lead Playworker during a 2-month residency on Governors Island in NYC. Based in the UK, she is currently working towards her PhD in Playwork at Leeds Beckett University. At Pop-Up Adventure Play, she leads on project coordination including all four Pop-Ups Tours, and manages online communications for all social media platforms.

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