Sapounofouska Playful Learning Festival

Play, Create, Connect – A 3-Day Outdoor Experience for Youth & Educators is a signature pilot event by Sapounofouska Events & More, designed as a shared outdoor learning, creativity, and community experience for adolescents, young people, educators, facilitators, and youth-oriented professionals. The event builds on the team’s experience in children’s parties, educational programmes, playful facilitation, Bubble Show, creative animation, and participatory group activities, expanding this practice into a more intentional outdoor format for youth and educators. The working language is English and Greek.
Set in a natural outdoor environment, the event invites participants into a lively and meaningful space where play, learning, expression, and connection come together. The series is structured around three interconnected thematic days. The first day focuses on belonging and expression, using theatrical play, music-and-movement games, improve theater, and collaborative group activities to support trust, spontaneity, communication, and joyful participation. The second day focuses on creative futures, offering space for STEAM-inspired activities, creative educational design, hands-on exploration, and collaborative idea generation. The third day focuses on nature and resilience, using outdoor activities, sensory exploration, group challenges, observation, and reflective practices to strengthen connection with self, others, and the environment.
A distinctive element of the event is its combination of educational depth and playful celebration. Drawing from the spirit of Sapounofouska’s creative event work, the programme may also include bubble show-inspired interactive moments, movement-based community activities, playful visual elements, and festive transitions that make the overall atmosphere more engaging, warm, and memorable. In this way, the event creates a bridge between non-formal education and imaginative event design.
Each day will conclude with a final application workshop, where participants work in mixed groups to design, test, or adapt a mini learning activity based on the day’s methods and experiences. These closing workshops are informed by STEAM education and structured through the 5E instructional model — Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate — helping participants transform outdoor experience, play, creativity, and group interaction into practical educational design.
The event is designed not only as a workshop series, but as a full shared experience. Every day includes facilitated activities, a collective picnic setting, catering, coffee, and an evening celebration or party, creating space for both learning and informal connection. Transportation to the event venue by bus will be available for participants who need it, and both the catering/coffee offer and the transportation support are included in the participation fee.
The activities will take place in an outdoor natural location, such as a park or a seaside setting, in order to support movement, openness, playfulness, and contact with the environment. The exact location will be confirmed and shared with participants 2–3 weeks before the event, together with practical details about access, transport, and what to bring.
Overall, Play, Create, Connect reflects the wider framework of Sapounofouska Events & More: creating joyful, participatory, and imaginative spaces where learning and celebration can coexist. Through STEAM, theater, movement, group facilitation, outdoor experience, and creative event design, the team aims to offer a fresh and inclusive format in which young people and educators can meet as co-participants, co-creators, and members of a temporary learning community.
The working language of the event will be mainly English, with a supportive and inclusive facilitation approach. Participants do not need to be fluent, but they should feel comfortable enough to engage in group activities, simple discussions, and collaborative tasks.

Objectives

• To bring together young people and educators in a shared outdoor learning experience.
• To explore belonging, creativity, and resilience through non-formal and experiential learning.
• To combine play, theater, movement, STEAM, and outdoor participation in one common framework.
• To support participants in turning experience into educational practice through daily final workshops based on STEAM and the 5E model.
• To create a joyful community atmosphere through picnic moments and evening celebrations.
• Bubble Show, Experimental & Magic Show

Target group
The event is open to:

• Adolescents and young people
• Educators and teachers
• Facilitators and youth workers
• Creative practitioners interested in non-formal learning and outdoor participation

Methodology
The event is based on:

• Non-formal education
• Experiential learning
• Outdoor participation and group dynamics
• STEAM education and creative educational design
• The 5E instructional model: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate

Each day ends with a final application workshop, where participants work in mixed groups to design or adapt a mini activity inspired by the day’s methods and experience. These workshops help participants connect practical experience with learning design.