Rooted in Play: The Power of Place

If you meet the eligibility criteria, you may be eligible for a scholarship to pay registration expenses for this conference. Applications can be completed to request professional development monies and will be provided on a "first come, first served" basis. Applicants will be placed on a "waitlist" and will be contacted if funding becomes available.

You must:

• Work in a licensed family childcare home or private, center-based program.
• Reside or work in the following counties of Illinois: Alexander, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, White, or Williamson.

*The Illinois Department of Human Services funds this program.

Email Cheryl Walton at cwalton@iu.edu for specific registration details.

Keynote Speakers

Brian Croft

In an era where screens dominate and schedules overwhelm, the call to "get outside" is more than just good advice—it's a necessity for well-being. This keynote will explore the critical role of intentionally designed outdoor experiences in youth development, mental health, and education. Backed by research and real-world applications, we’ll uncover how nature-based interventions serve as a prescription for resilience, learning, and overall well-being. Whether through structured outdoor education, therapeutic wilderness programs, or simple unstructured play, the evidence is clear: time outside isn't a luxury—it's doctor's orders.

About Brian Croft: Brian has spent over twenty years in the outdoor industry, beginning as a camp counselor and growing into his current role as the director of Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center. A passionate advocate for experiential learning, Brian is a former board member of the Association for Experiential Education (AEE), an international organization dedicated to expanding experiential learning pedagogy in all aspects of education.

Brian has shared his expertise on national stages, serving as a TedX and ActivatEE speaker and presenting to organizations across the country. His work focuses on promoting outdoor-based experiences as a vital tool for education, inclusion, and personal growth. Through his leadership, he continues to champion the belief that time in nature is not just beneficial—it’s essential for all.

Carla Gull

Loose Parts Alive: Connecting Children to Local Nature
From bugs and plants to pets and friends, low-cost and no-cost loose parts alive enhance the quality of childhood through play. Noticing the living things in and around our environments leads to innovative ways to incorporate them into children’s playful explorations. Expand the loose parts mindset beyond static objects to respectfully and responsibly embrace more interactive play and social-emotional development with living things.

About Carla Gull: Carla is the director of the Master of Art of environmental education program at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College in northern Indiana. She has over 20 years of experience in the education field at the preschool, elementary, and college levels. She hosts a podcast, Loose Parts Nature Play; facilitates an international social media group, Loose Parts Play; and presents workshops, learning experiences, and academic research around loose parts, risky play, STEM, outdoor classrooms, and nature education. She is coauthor of the books, Loose Parts Alive: Inspiring Child-led Nature Explorations and Loose Parts Learning in K-3 Classrooms. She is the state coordinator for Indiana Children and Nature Network.

Spotlight Speaker

Elizabeth B. Frisbie

The Healing Power of Nature
Elizabeth B. Frisbie, MA, MS.Ed., I/ECMH-C has worked with young children, their families, and educators for over 30 years as a mental health consultant, play therapist, family support specialist, and nature educator. She holds degrees in education and clinical psychology and is certified in parent education and infant/early childhood mental health. Elizabeth specializes in supporting children who are at risk due to family situations, experiencing trauma, or being delayed in social-emotional skills, including those displaying challenging behaviors. Her love of nature led her to complete training to become an IL Master Naturalist and to pursue her PhD in Ecopsychology.

Day 1: Friday, May 16

Day 2: Saturday, May 17

Participants will choose sessions when signing in on Friday and Saturday mornings.

Friday, May 16, 2025

• 9:00-10:15 Keynote-Brian Croft
• 10:30-12:00 Group Activity
• 2:30-3:45 Session 1 (Option 1)
  • Grant Miller-Tips and Techniques for DIY Manipulatives In and Outside of the Classroom
    • Cardboard, Wood, and Tools…Oh My! In this session, participants will be introduced to ways they can build their own manipulatives with found and created resources. Materials and tools will be provided. Just bring your creativity. -Limited to 25 participants
  • Carla Gull- Destructive Play: From “Mess” to Creativity
    
    • In this hands-on session, explore why tearing, ripping, and crumbling can allow for sensory input, build understanding of materials, work on flexible thinking, and promote STEM connections. We'll discuss logistics and tips, associated literature, and have time to participate in deconstructive play rooted in the power of place!
  • Kendall Travis and Emily Bajerski-Child Development Laboratory: Weekly Nature Experience Pilot Program
    
    • Teachers from the Child Development Laboratory will discuss what the forest experience has meant to them. Documentation, experiences, and the impact on the children, families, and teaching staff will be shared. Participants will experience what play looks like in the “wild” by engaging in an activity previously done by the children that involves learning with our heads, hands, and hearts. -Limited to 30 participants
  • Nancy Gulley- Project Inquiry with Loose Parts: Nature and Found Items Edition
    • Explore the wonders that natural and found loose parts can do to enhance and stimulate project inquiry with young children. Learn how to use these materials to promote inquiry and growth within the scope of project work. Participants will utilize these materials to support children in using inquiry skills through projects to meet a variety of learning objectives across multiple learning domains. -Limited to 30 participants
• 2:30-5:00 Session 1 (Option 2)
  • Alex Thompson- Teaching Self-Regulation Through a Sensory Enhanced and Trauma Sensitive Approach
    • A range of learning activities and discussions will be used to support participants in learning and experiencing evidence-based techniques to teach self-regulation. This interactive, hands-on workshop will expand every professional’s knowledge of theories and techniques related to mental health, well-being, trauma and sensory integration that can have a positive impact on teaching self-regulation to children in their early years. -Limited to 40 participants
    • Come prepared to be active- Bring a yoga mat/towel, water, snacks to nourish yourself, a journal or paper, and a pen for the reflection activities, is recommended.
  • Steve Gariepy- Connective Experiences: The Ties that Bind
    • Rocky Ledges Educational Trail, Raccoon Circle, Tent Platforms
    • Using non-formal education methods in-place, creating opportunities for varied connections. See how framing/facilitating activities with elements from varied disciplines/angles leads to more “whole” connective and meaningful lessons. Forest walk and ancestral skill-based activity connecting landscape, human history and resource use for survival and cultural advancement, with sticks, rocks, and plants. -Limited to 25 participants.

Saturday, May 17, 2025

• 9:00-9:30 Team Building Activities
• 9:45-11:15 Session 2 (Option 1)
  • Carla Gull-Destructive Play: From “Mess” to Creativity
    • In this hands-on session, explore why tearing, ripping, and crumbling can allow for sensory input, build understanding of materials, work on flexible thinking, and promote STEM connections. We'll discuss logistics and tips, associated literature, and have time to participate in deconstructive play rooted in the power of place!
  • Lea Maue-Forest Bathing
    • You won’t need your bathing suit to learn how to immerse yourself mindfully and intentionally in the surrounding nature/place. Forest bathing, based on the Japanese practice of “Shinrin-Yoku” allows practitioners to step away from the stress of life to promote overall wellness. This session consists of a brief history of forest bathing and its benefits, a forest bathing experience, and connections to place-based classroom practices. No materials are required.
  • Elizabeth Frisbie-The Tree and Me: Tree Exploration Activities for Preschoolers
    • This workshop explores using a tree as both our classroom space and a subject. We will experience tree-related activities covering all developmental domains: math, science, language arts, movement, and art. Attention will be given to helping children develop a relationship with a tree, fostering a sense of wonder and connection. This session will provide early childhood professionals with the tools they need to connect their young students to the natural world through exploring familiar trees. We will explore humans’ connections to trees by recalling our own early memories and feelings about them and then discuss what is being lost in today’s plugged-in world where the majority of children are most comfortable indoors in front of a screen. Using Sobel’s premise that a sense of awe and wonder inspires interest in and life-long commitment to nature, workshop participants will experience hands-on tree activities that are developmentally appropriate for preschoolers. -Limited to 40 participants.
  • Yoga in Nature
    • Breathwork and poses to support regulating the nervous system will ground participants in yoga practices that can be used for adults as well as incorporated in the classroom setting with children. Participants will learn strategies and supports to use yoga as part of their daily practice to encourage a calm, mindful presence in all aspects of life and tap into the wisdom of their mind, body, and spirit.
    • Participants can bring a yoga mat/towel.
• 9:45-1:45 Session 2 (Option 2) *Lunch Break 11:15-12:00
  • Alex Thompson-Interoception for Self-Regulation in the Early Years
    • Throughout this workshop, research related to masking, mental health, suicide, trauma, and their relationship to interoception and self-regulation will be discussed. Large and small group discussions, experiential exercises for individuals and in groups will be utilized to facilitate the integration of knowledge into practice. A variety of evidence-based tools and interventions in the area of interoception and self-regulation relevant to ECE will be discussed and experienced. Adults will have the opportunity to participate in the interventions first, so from their own learning experiences they can apply the content learned to their practice.
    • Come prepared to be active-bring a yoga mat/towel, water, food to be nourished, and a notebook and pens to take notes and participate in the reflection activities.
  • Steve Gariepy- Field Experiences: A Site-Based Lessons Visit to the Local (State) Park
    • Giant City State Park (Carpool)
    • Bring lessons and the landscape together at your local park or site. Creating immersive, place-based experiences designed for specific places to gain the greatest results. Immersion, exploration, discovery, expression, relaxation and reflection. Enrich lessons as you build personal relationships with the places you come to know through educating on/with them. -Limited to 25 participants.
• 12:15-1:45 Session 3
  • Michael Eldridge-Nature Collection Boxes & Junk Journals
    • There is no “one size fits all” definition of a “junk journal” or “nature Journal.” These can vary from person to person, but in general, “junk journals” are made mostly of a mix of found and recycled materials that allow children (adults!) to sketch, collect, and create. Nature collection boxes are small but can hold items that children find in nature…small feathers, flower petals, pinecones-the list is endless! Participants will use found objects in nature to create the journal and box and can use these as a keepsake or share with the children they work with.
  • Abigail Moberly, April Walker, Cody Roach-SIU Carbondale Head Start Nature Experience 
    
    • Join us for an interactive exploration of SIU Carbondale’s Nature Experience pilot program. The session will begin with a one-mile hike to camp 1, which houses the Nature Experience at Touch of Nature. There, participants will tour the spaces and explore the practices of a typical day of a Head Start classroom immersed in nature. -Limited to 30 participants.
  • Teresa Weed-Illinois and The National Movement for Outdoor Preschool Licensing
    • The presentation will make a case for the health and developmental benefits of outdoor preschools and explain why licensing standards are necessary to make the model available to all Illinois families. The presenter will walk participants through developments on the licensing front on national, state, and local levels and review the legislative process.
  • Yoga in Nature
    • Breathwork and poses to support regulating the nervous system will ground participants in yoga practices that can be used for adults as well as incorporated in the classroom setting with children. Participants will learn strategies and supports to use yoga as part of their daily practice to encourage a calm, mindful presence in all aspects of life and tap into the wisdom of their mind, body, and spirit.
    • Participants can bring a yoga mat/towel

Welcome to the 2025 Rooted in Play Conference Store.

Please note there are 2 options for receiving your orders:

1. Pick up at your event.
2. Shipped directly to your home.

For both options all information must be entered and then the options will pop up.

Your store will close on April 18th.

Orders will not be processed until the store is closed. Please note that in order to avoid delays for other customers, late orders will not be accepted. Due to the nature of custom orders, we will be unable to change or accept order cancellations after a store closes. Because items are customized specifically for this store, no refunds or exchanges will be accepted, and all sales will be final.

Rooted in Play 2025 Swag