Discovery Playtime

Spaces That Support Growth is a professional development webinar designed to support early years educators in understanding the important role the environment plays in children’s holistic development, wellbeing, belonging and learning through play. The session will encourage educators to move beyond thinking about the environment simply in terms of layout, resources or planned activities and instead consider the experiences they want to make possible for children. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of how intentional environments can spark curiosity, support independence and agency, nurture connection and belonging, promote inclusion, and respond to children’s individual needs and emerging interests. By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to reflect more intentionally on their own learning environments, recognise how environmental choices can influence children’s experiences and development, and identify practical changes that can enhance play, exploration, relationships and learning. The session will support educators in connecting their environmental practice with Aistear: the Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (2024) and in using ongoing observation and reflection to create environments that evolve alongside the children who use them.