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Designing Outdoor Play for Early Learners: Cultivating Resilience, Curiosity, and Well-Being
Thursday, May 14, 2026 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT
Presented by Lukas Ritson, Play Expert, Wearthy
Moderated by Laura Wilhelm, Ed.D., VP of Professional Learning Services, Kaplan Early Learning Company
Sponsored by Kaplan Early Learning Company
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
This edWebinar introduces a clear and practical approach to designing outdoor environments that support meaningful play and child development. Grounded in the Ecology of Play, the session explores how observation, diversity, and resilience can guide everyday decisions in early learning settings.
Viewers gain a simple lens to understand how environments shape behavior, engagement, and learning. The focus is on seeing outdoor spaces as living systems that evolve with children, educators, and community context. Through real project examples, the edWebinar highlights how intentional design can support movement, social connection, creativity, and a strong sense of belonging.
The session also translates this thinking into practical action. Educators are guided through small-scale changes that can be implemented with limited resources, helping them strengthen their current environments without the need for major redevelopment. Examples demonstrate how thoughtful adjustments to layout, materials, and play opportunities can shift the depth and quality of engagement.
Designed for both new and experienced educators, this session provides a balance of inspiration and application. Viewers leave with a clearer understanding of how to observe play, respond to children’s needs, and cultivate outdoor environments that support growth, curiosity, and well-being. This recorded edWebinar is of interest to early childhood educators.
About the Presenter
Keeping children curious, creative, and confident through offering the adventurous childhood they deserve is the principle that guides Lukas Ritson’s play environments. Lukas believes play should be an all-encompassing experience for children, fostering connection, resilience, and compassion. His award-winning playground designs emphasize natural landscapes, creating a strong foundation for limitless learning opportunities. As an educator, designer, and speaker, Lukas’ work has impacted thousands of children worldwide. Through Wearthy, he continues to influence conversations on the needs of children and school communities, shaping approaches to early childhood education and community engagement. In March 2021, Lukas presented his TEDx talk, How to raise resilient children in a fear-based world, at TEDxUQ. He is a published contributing author and an invited keynote speaker across Finland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
About the Moderator
As the Vice President for Professional Learning at Kaplan, Laura Wilhelm, Ed.D., draws on decades of experience teaching young children and early childhood professionals, starting with toddlers in the 1980s, followed by PreK-third grade in urban and suburban schools, and as a university lab school director. Since earning her doctorate in ECE curriculum and instruction in 1999, she has served as a program director, full professor, national validator for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and a site visitor for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Programs (CAEP). She enjoys planning professional development, speaking at conferences, leading study tours, visiting early education programs around the world, and returning home to her family. She is the author of The Neglected Child: How to Recognize, Respond, and Prevent (2013); Treasure Baskets: Heuristic Learning for Infants and Toddlers (2017); Enticing Environments for People Under Three (2021); and Living Loose Parts: Creatures of Curiosity (2024), all from Gryphon House.
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Join the Practical Strategies for Early Learning community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
For more than 50 years, Kaplan Early Learning Company has been a champion for play. From our research-based curricula to enriching classroom environments and innovative technology solutions, Kaplan’s products and services inspire a lifelong love of learning in children and educators. We are architects of learning good and defenders of the imagination. We live for inseparable bonds and open minds. We encourage the eager and inspire the inspirers. We transform lives through play.
