The Benefits of Food, Art, and Land-Based Education

Our program draws on three interconnected sources of learning and inspiration; Art, Food and the Land. These three pillars have well-documented life-long benefits and, in concert, can provide children with the freedom to pursue their interests while being exposed to a variety of life-affirming activities.

THIS LAND

This place that holds us is the ancestral Lands and Waters of the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk. This place is upheld by provincial resources built from the hands and Lands of the Mi’kmaq, Beothuk, Innu, and Inuit. May we offer restorative kindness to the suffering endured by countless marginalized peoples leading to us now sharing time on the Land.

We can honour the long-standing caretakers of this territory by learning from their resilience, creativity, and humility. Engaging in Land-based education is an incredible privilege that demands we continue to reflect and uplift others meaningfully. The beauty of this work lies in inviting others to the sanctuary of the forest, listening to the Land, and embodying their stories of provenance.

May this land acknowledgement not end but begin a lifelong conversation with Indigeneity. We work in gratitude for the way place and community hold us. We work daily to center the voices of Mi’kmaq throughout all of Mi’kma’ki, including the places that raised us. As we explore the particularities and uniqueness of the Bay of Islands, we recognize our privilege in getting closer to the ground, to live, love, and learn on Indigenous Land.

Learning with the land

In our age of anxiety, amplified by dependence on technology, a global pandemic, and hyper-regulated childcare, we are re-learning the value of just being outside. Children are increasingly prone to experiencing Nature Deficit Disorder which impacts all aspects of their development, such as attention difficulties, underdeveloped motor skills, and higher rates of depression, anxiety, and placelessness. Time spent in nature can improve our mental health and coping skills when these challenges arise while supplanting them with life-affirming activities.

The Land provides children critical opportunities to challenge themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally. The natural hazards and risks of an outdoor environment allow children to test their limits, develop an awareness of risk, and feel confident and capable when faced with uncertainty.
Children who have access to outdoor spaces, develop a relationship with the Land, and engage in risky play can benefit by enhancing the following:

Ecological Literacy and Stewardship
Confidence and Emotional Intelligence
Physical Health through fresh air, sunshine, and exercise
Mental Health, coping strategies, and overall well-being
Gross motor skills and fine motor skills
Communication, Social Skills, and Relationship-Building
Risk Assessment Skills and Natural Consequences
Creativity and Food Skills
Independence and Problem Solving

Twisted Tuckamore’s understory classroom provides consistent access to nature’s invitation to be curious. A program driven by inquiry and the children themselves means the opportunity to creatively deepen their own unique relationship to the Land and its plethora of benefits.

More Information:

The Child and Nature Alliance of Canada has more information on What Forest School Is and the 10 Principles that guide and govern our Forest School. You can learn more about the Alliance and Forest and Nature Schools across Canada here.
Boston University writes about the Benefits of Outdoor and Risky Play.

a School for All-Terrain Children

Learning Through Creation

At Twisted Tuckamore, children can create in countless ways, from crafting forts, weaving roots, and inventing games, to drawing, sculpting, and painting. Through creation, children practice their ability to problem solve, plan, and experiment with cause and effect while freely expressing themselves. This is how we learn to interpret and respectfully manipulate the world around us.

The world needs creative thinkers, and a creative mind is the key to success in any avenue of life. Whether it is what we want for our children or not, working with paper, digital or tangible, is a part of their future. Art allows children to practice problem-solving on paper, tune fine motor skills needed for writing, and comprehend the symbology we use each day. Art allows children to rest while exercising their minds in a fun way!

For more information on the benefits of Art and Creating in early childhood education:

Other benefits of art and creation for early childhood development are:

Math Skills: Learning shapes, size, spatial awareness, counting, and comparison making

Language Skills: Describing and sharing artwork allows children to practice description skills all the while hearing new descriptive perspectives from others

Communication: Art better enables non-verbal children, children with English as a second language, or anyone, to communicate differently

Encourages Neural Connections: Art activates all the senses; sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste, creating lasting connections and associations

Connecting with Others: Collaborative projects invite children, who may not have similar interests, to find common ground while developing their teamwork skills

Promote Creativity: We always need more creative thinkers in this world!

Develop Problem-Solving Abilities

Develop Fine Motor Skills

learning through food

Kids who grow veggies EAT VEGGIES!

Food is the language we speak with the Land, and the vernacular we rely on has lasting impacts for us both.

Fostering a healthy relationship with food at a young age has countless benefits for enhancing mental and physical health, resilience, independence, problem-solving, and creativity.

Harvesting food from the Land is important to maintaining our relationships with nature, wildlife, and food. It requires that we practice reciprocity and discipline to not deplete the resources we depend on. Acquainting children and youth with these concepts early on can contribute to establishing a healthy relationship with the Land and our food. The teachings that inform our food practice come from across Mi’kma’ki, including knowledge from countless generous knowledge keepers we honour every time we share with children.

At Twisted Tuckamore Forest School, we grow veggies in a community garden, forage for berries and other edible forest foods, prepare food over a fire, and share the harvest. We learn ancient stewardship values to only take what we need, enter relationships of consent, honour the lives that are sacrificed so that we can eat, and to share. Food is a call to get creative with what we have!