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Outdoor Play Environments

BREAKING NEWS. Outdoor Play Canada, the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the CHEO Research Institute, Andrew Fleck Children’s Services, Algonquin College and the Canadian Disability Participation Project have recently been awarded funding for a 4-year project to address challenges in the built and social environment for outdoor play and learning in natural spaces for young children living...

Thank you to Dr. Michelle Bauer, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia and Laura Cunningham, undergraduate student in the department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of British Columbia, for providing this post. A wealth of research demonstrates that there are developmental benefits for children’s participation in competitive...

Earth Day is April 22! Showing your appreciation for this great planet can include any number of activities, such as powering down for an hour, getting outside to play, cleaning-up your neighborhood, meeting your neighbours for a walk, and leaving your car turned off! For more ideas, a number of organizations across Canada & beyond are...

SaskOutdoors was recently interviewed by CBC on why it is important to get outdoors in the winter, how to do so safely, and where to go for resources to support outdoor play in all seasons. In their chat, Justine Wheeler, Outdoor Play Coordinator for SaskOutdoors, gave a shout-out to Outdoor Play Canada and the Outdoor...

Momentum is building at an international scale around taking a more playful approach to learning in schools. To document this movement, Edutopia put together a Making Learning More Playful video series, documenting how six schools in four countries adopted a playful learning mindset. Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School (PETES) was among the four filmed, where principal...

Get Outside & Play is co-hosting their second annual Outdoor Play in the Early Years Conference! See details below. Dates: April 12 (evening) & April 13 (all day) Location: Calgary, Woodcliff United Church, and Edworthy Park Cost: $210 + GST Children need to be outdoors. This conference will inspire educators to be outside with children in a way that...

Thank you to Dr. Tanya Halsall, the Royal Ottawa, and Laurel Donison, Brock University, for providing this post. Outdoor and nature-based activities promote better health and academic outcomes for children, where the school context represents a critical opportunity to support increased outdoor time. However, outdoor learning is not implemented consistently across school contexts, and as such,...

Thank you to Christina Han, Research Coordinator with the PlayOutside Lab, for providing this post. Dr. Mariana Brussoni and her research team at the University of British Columbia are excited to share https://teacher.outsideplay.org, a free online tool designed to help teachers support outdoor play and learning in elementary schools. The Outdoor Play and Learning tool was...