A course of workshops that, through games and playfulness, works to reconnect children with nature
"Welcome to Sustainability for Children! We believe that reconnecting children with nature is fundamental and urgent, so we created a series of workshops for this purpose. We propose practical experiences that will raise children's awareness of their relationship with the earth, plants and water, and we want to support you in guiding this transformation! And there? Let's co-create new world possibilities together that value childhood and nature?" - Camila Sawaia – Pedagogical Director of CoCriança
You will need around 5 hours per week over 3 weeks, with 2 hours facilitating the workshop, 1 hour online meeting and 2 hours preparing the workshop.
To ensure good support and listening during the workshops, we recommend a ratio of 3 facilitators to 24 children. Therefore, it is important that this team of facilitators, as well as the group of children who will participate in the workshop, be defined at the beginning of the process. It is possible for one person to be responsible and the other two to provide support, or for the three to lead the process together. Regardless of the model, the important thing is that it is clear who will facilitate the workshops and what each person's responsibilities are.
For the Course to work at its best, it is important that you carry out the 3 workshops with the same group of children . This group can be children from the neighborhood, a school, a building or wherever. Here, the key is to define which group this is, understanding how many children will participate in the process, and reinforcing that it is legal for them to participate in the 3 workshops.
Once the group is organized, it is important that you already think about a good space to accommodate the compost bin and the vegetable garden (you will need a space about the size of a stove). We believe that it is very important to make this choice together with the children! Their participation from the beginning of the process guarantees greater engagement and ownership, in addition to being an important validation of their voice and opinions.
With the group gathered and the space chosen, we will begin our process! It begins with an online follow-up meeting, without the children's involvement. It will occur synchronously between the team of facilitators who will lead the workshops, and members of the CoCriança team.
The idea of this meeting is to go through the workshop itinerary and its materials, answering questions and making any adjustments that are necessary for the group you will be working with. It will also be time for us to give you some tips and also work on important concepts related to the workshop theme.
After the follow-up meeting, you will need to organize the workshop. This involves separating and/or purchasing the necessary materials for it, delving deeper into a topic you deem important, organizing the space for the workshop and rereading the script once again to see if everything is ok. This organization is essential for the workshop to flow in the best way possible with the children.
Finally, it’s time to facilitate the workshop! It's two hours of completeness and openness to listen to what the children are bringing and help them in this connection with nature!
The meeting - preparation - workshop cycle will be repeated 3 times, over 3 weeks. Thus, every week you will have a follow-up meeting, a time to prepare the workshop and facilitate it, always in that order.
Finally, remember to enjoy, play and have fun with the children! Also keep an eye out for possible developments that children may come up with from this cycle of workshops! Why not then create other activities to reconnect with nature? The possibilities are endless!
See you on this journey! Until then!
