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OpenTupa oyActive provider

Creativity: Enhancing Wellbeing and interactive Pedagogy Thr

Open your mind to discover new dimensions of yourself and your surroundings!

OID · E10398452
Creativity: Enhancing Wellbeing and interactive Pedagogy Thr

Course description

Creativity is a significant 21st century skill. OpenTupa´s creativity course will provide you techniques to improve your own creativity as well as to gives you methods that help your students learn to see things from new perspectives and thereby develop their own creativity.

Creativity skills can be implemented in all subjects. OpenTupa's creativity course is taught by professionals in the arts and education sector, whose exercises the course participants can easily implement with their own students.

In the 5-day creativity course, OpenTupa's trainers bring ideas and exercises from their own fields to the course participants. The structure of the course is designed in such a way that specialists from different fields train on different days. Course participants receive elements from different art perspectives to develop creativity.

Learning objective

The course aims to strengthen participants’ ability to observe and use nature‑based and functional methods that support wellbeing, emotional skills and calm interaction in teaching. Through the weekly programme, participants learn to recognise how creativity, sensory experiences and time in natural environments influence focus, regulation and cooperation. They explore dog‑assisted teaching, emotional skills linked to colours and photography, and the role of forests and green spaces in supporting attention and recovery.

Participants gain experience in associative writing, sensory walks, gentle movement and observing animal behaviour during the farm visit. The Helsinki day introduces ways to identify nature elements in an urban setting. By the end of the course, participants can connect these approaches to their own teaching, understand the pedagogical value of nature‑based activities and select suitable methods to support students’ emotional awareness, interaction and everyday wellbein

Teaching methods and assessment

The course uses functional, nature‑based and experiential methods. Teaching includes orientation activities, group discussions, review of the pre‑assignment and creativity practice outdoors. Participants work with dog‑assisted teaching, emotional skills, colour meanings and nature photography. Writing tasks, sensory observation, gentle movement and reflection on forests and green spaces support understanding of wellbeing and interaction. The farm visit provides guided observation of animal behaviour, human–animal connection and practical examples of welfare‑based environments. The final day in Helsinki focuses on recognising nature in an urban setting through orienteering and guided exploration.

Assessment is continuous and based on participation, observation and short reflections linked to each day’s activities. Participants consider how the methods experienced during the week can be adapted to their own teaching and summarise key insights at key insights at the end of the course.

Materials and learning resources

The organiser provides basic materials such as paper and simple supplies for course tasks. Participants may use their own phone or laptop to access materials. Suitable outdoor clothing and comfortable shoes are needed for nature activities and the farm visit. All resources support the programme’s nature‑based and experiential work.

Course package

The course fee includes the full programme and all teaching according to the weekly schedule. Basic materials needed during the course are provided by the organiser. Travel, accommodation and meals are not included in the price. Participants may book accommodation directly at the course venue: https://www.tehtaanhotelli.fi/en/

Course programme

DAY1

Welcome

9.00 - 11.00 ● Course opening and practical information ● Getting to know each other 11.00 -12.00 lunch 12.00-15.00 ● Review of the pre‐assignment ● Creativity practice in nature

DAY2

Dog-Assisted Teaching & Emotion Skill Cards

9.00 - 11.00 ● Introduction to dog-assisted teaching in Finnish schools and meet school dog Laila ● Emotional skills through interaction with a school dog ● The psychological meanings of colors 11.00 - 12.00 Lunch 12.00 - 15.00 ● Nature photography outdoors ● Creating emotion skill cards

DAY3

Effect of Forest and Greenery on People

9.00 - 11.00 ● Morning associative writing ● The impact of forests and green spaces 11.00 - 12.00 Lunch 12.00 - 15.00 ● Silent sensory walk & gentle movement series

DAY4

Farm Visit & Welfare Forest

Start from Tehtaan Hotel at 9.00. Please bring shoes that you feel comfortable walking in farm and forest surroundings. ● Visit to Pelto-Seppälä Family Farm ● Short introduction to animal welfare & species‐typical behaviour - what can we learn from animals and human-animal-connection? ● Meeting the farm animals (cows, calves, horses) outdoors and observing the behaviour 12.00 - 13.00 Lunch at the farm restaurant ● Visit to the Welfare Forest ● Impact of guided tours to the forest ● Guided presence practice at the silence trail and how to make your own trail ● Short introduction to how to select and train the animals to animal assisted work ● Hands on experience with trained therapy sheep & communal art from sheep wool and old sheets Back at Tehtaan hotel approx. 16.00

DAY5

Nature in the City — Day in Helsinki

Morning bus to Helsinki 8.40 (Also possible to go to Helsinki by the evening bus on Thursday after the programme..) Start: 10.30 Oodi library / Course ends approx. at 15.00 ● Oodi library ● City orienteering ● Observing nature in an urban environment

Course locations

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