Today’s children have limited opportunities to connect with the natural environment. They spend more time viewing television and playing video games on computers than they do being physically active outside. Since they do not have direct experiences in nature, these children will miss out crucial opportunities to enhance their overall well-being, health and relationships. In the past decade, the benefits of connecting to nature have been well documented in numerous scientific research studies which show that children’s social, psychological, academic and physical health is positively impacted when they have daily contact with nature. Taking these benefits into consideration, we, 6 partner countries (Hungary, Turkey, Romania, Poland, Latvia and Italy), have come together to create this project: Nature Loving Kids (NLK). Our main aim is to provide teachers with knowledge and competence in order to guide children to connect with nature letting them spend more time outdoors. Nearly 800 children aged between 3-7 and 150 teachers and educators will participate in this precious project. We will focus on the following objectives: -To enable teachers to obtain knowledge and skills to conduct Nature activities -To let children connect with nature and spend more time outdoors -To give opportunity to teachers for professional development in alternative approaches to be conducted with nature -To improve children’s skills in free play, discovery learning and exploration -To equip teachers with new ideas and techniques to be used with SEN children in nature Our project will have 6 joint staff training with 6 different themes in which the participants will be provided with competence in order to conduct project activities more effectively. We plan to have regular assessment procedures to ensure that the project objectives are achieved: 1) PRE/POST TESTS for children 2) MONITORING SHEET TEMPLATE for teachers 3) FEEDBACK GATHERED AT WORKSHOP/PARENTS MEETING 4) PARTICIPANTS’ SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRES 5) COMMENTS of the visitors and followers on social media (Facebook&Instagram) 6) PROJECT OUTPUTS & PRODUCTS Throughout 2 year period, we plan to create the following outputs and products with the collaboration of our partners: Project Brochure/Roll-up, Project web page, eTwinning project, social media groups, Nature Loving Kids’ Activity Pack , Teachers’ Guide for Nature Activities, Recipe Book, Picture Dictionary, Guidelines for Sustainable Nature Loving Kids. Our project will contribute to the development of the involved schools in the long-term. For instance: The Staff will -have a raised awareness of recent changes in Nature Education which will raise the quality at our respective schools -acquire new and innovative skills and approaches to use Nature and Outdoor activities with both children and children with SEN -be more qualified with working out tools for validation and assessment progress -get better at formal and non-formal international events The Children will -be more independent and self-confident with the enhancement of creativity, inspiration, curiosity, observation, exploration skills, motor skills and social skills -develop love for Nature and raise awareness about Environment and Cycle of Life -spend more time outdoor, be healthier, discover, learn by doing and have fun The Schools will -have more teaching staff, parents, etc. with the increasing awareness of Nature Kindergartens and Outdoor activities -have more staff and parents being familiar with some aspects of the European dimension and intercultural awareness -motivate other schools to join in international projects The Parents will -deepen their knowledge and understanding of Nature Education and Outdoor Learning in order to support their children -become more open and receptive in their response to different cultures and traditions. The Wider Community will -have greater awareness on Nature Education and Outdoor Learning at younger children, the future generation.
Nowadays, the issue of environmental protection and environmental education is becoming increasingly urgent. Recognising the importance of this, 6 of our partner countries (Romania, Turkey, Italy, Poland, Latvia and Hungary) have decided to develop a programme for children called Nature Loving Kids (NLK), which will set them on the path toward environmental awareness and love of nature, thus contributing to the protection and care of our planet. However, environmental education is not only educationally beneficial for children, as research has shown that quality time spent outdoors supports young people's physical, psychological and cognitive development and health. Therefore, over the years, our primary goal has been to carry out a project that would help, develop and enrich the activities of the kindergarten teachers so that they could share their environmental education experience with the approximately 150 staff members and nearly 800 children of the participating kindergartens. Other highlights include the emphasis on the professional development of teachers in alternative approaches to nature; and equipping them with new ideas and techniques that they can apply to children with special educational needs in nature. Another essential objective was to get children to spend as much time outdoors as possible and to get in close contact with the nature around them while developing their skills through nature-based play, inductive learning and exploration. In all 6 partner countries, different themes were explored, so participants were able to experience each occasion with various activities. C1 - A PATH TO THE NATURE: The meeting in Poland aimed to get to know the partners and to discuss the project implementation, methodology and tasks, as well as the integration of outdoor education activities into a nature education programme. C2 - GARDENING WITH KIDS FOR BEE-FRIENDLY GARDENS: In addition to presenting C1's project activities at the online meeting in Italy, the main objective of the training was to provide participants with innovative ideas and practices on integrating our 2nd theme, "Gardening with kids and bee-friendly gardens", into our nature education programme. C3 - GARDEN TO TABLE: Grow, Harvest, Prepare and Share This online meeting in Turkey aimed to evaluate the C2 project activities and provide participants with tools, ideas and useful practices for Theme 3, "Garden to Table: grow, harvest, prepare and share". C4- TREES, PLANTS & EDIBLE WILDS The aim of the meeting in Hungary was to evaluate the 1st year of the project process, the project activities of theme C3 and to discuss the analysis of the post-tests. We also prepared the administrative and dissemination tasks for the 2nd project year. The purpose of the training was to share innovative ideas and best practices on how to manage our 4th theme, "Trees, Plants and Edible Wilds", in the project process. C5 - ANIMALS IN NATURAL CYCLES During the online mobility in Romania, we evaluated the project activities carried out during C4 and exchanged ideas and practices on how to address our 5th theme, 'Animals in natural cycles'. C6 - SUSTAINABLE NATURE EDUCATION at KINDERGARTENS During the meeting in Latvia, we evaluated the C5 project activities, and the work carried out over the past years. We started planning for the project administration, final report and dissemination activities. The aim of the training was to develop a long-term plan through a commitment to promote nature education through outdoor learning in our kindergartens. As a result of the project, we have established regular evaluation procedures: 1) 2 PRE/POST TESTS for children to measure their progress 2) OBSERVATION SHEETS for teachers to evaluate and monitor their own and their children's work 3) FEEDBACK COLLECTION AT WORKSHOPS/PARENTS' MEETINGS 4) PARTICIPANT SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRES 5) We were present on social media (Facebook), where visitors were able to express their opinions through COMMENTS under the posts In addition, to showcase the PROJECT RESULTS AND OUTPUTS, we produced project brochures, a website, an eTwinning platform, a social media group, a guide to nature-related activities, an international recipe book, a Flora & Fauna picture dictionary, newsletters, and a sustainability and dissemination plan, in order to make our project as visible as possible to a broader audience, helping more people to start promoting environmental education.