Where programs are interested, we offer in addition to playground design and sales, various types of training workshops for directors, staff, and parents. The workshops can be varied in length – the most common requests are for 1 ½ length. We involve the audience through discussion, exercises, and role play, emphasizing the highest-quality child development research to back up our claims on how to accomplish the desired skills. Call for the cost – it varies with the location, number of pariticipants, and length.
Halcyon has been an active trainer in the Houston area and occasionally at state-wide and national conferences for over fifteen years, offering workshops to Landscape Architects, child care centers, church-based early childhood programs, school-age programs, and corporate lunch-time seminars on topics such as the following:
Playground Safety. A review, discussion and interactive design exercise using the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) Guidelines for Public Playground Safety.
Outdoor Programming for child care programs. Using pre-selected curriculum materials, we design and practice curriculum units that can be rendered more exciting, and in touch with the natural world by bringing them outdoors.
Balancing Risk and Safety on the playground. Understanding that children seek out risk because they have inherited this need, we demonstrate and discuss various options that will allow supervised risk within a broader safety context.
Bigger is Better! Making the case for Large Outdoor Sand/Water Play Areas. Presented in New York fall 2002 NAEYC conference - , along with director and teachers of The Yellow School at Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, where they have had a playground made solely of sand for 25 years.
Areas of Disagreement between CPSC Handbook for Public Playground Safety
and Texas Day Care Center Minimum Standards. Understanding the big picture, with charts of common licensing violations and recommended procedures.
Reese-Learned, H. (Spring 2004). Playground Safety Surfacing: The Hard Hat.
The Advocate (HAAEYC). Pp. 19-20.
Reese-Learned, H. (1997-1998). Reading development in the preschool years.
Part I: The developmental process. Part 2: Precursors of learning disabilities.
Part 3: Implications for the preschool teacher. The Advocate.
Reese-Learned, H. (1997). Play and learning: Bringing theory into practice.
Publication of the America International Play Association.
Reese-Learned, H, and Martin, P. (1997) Adventure Play How-to Manual.
Houston Adventure Play Association. Houston, TX. 120 pp.
The Way the Playground Industry Works “What kinds of experiences do you want to foster in your playground?” Read More…
Our Background
Halcyon comes to the playground design world through experiences with child development programs as teacher, director, trainer, and researcher. Learn More…
