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Policy Practice Research

Questions, comments, suggestions regarding the CCOP initiative?

Contact us

 

Vision for the CCOP

Outdoor play and learning are available, accessible, and habitually accessed by young children living in Canada. 

Mission of the CCOP

The Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play is a collaboration between Outdoor Play Canada, the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the CHEO Research Institute, Algonquin College, and Andrew Fleck Children’s Services through which we aim inspire commitment to advancing outdoor play and learning for the overall health and well-being of children in Canada. The Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play leads demonstration projects, informs policy and practice, provides professional development opportunities, conducts applied research, and leads nationwide knowledge translation and mobilization efforts to promote and support children, their care providers, their families, and the environments in which they play, learn and live. 

CCOP Team

CCOP Team Bios

CCOP Team Bios

Mallory

Mallory Donaldson, RECE, Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play Fellow

Bio

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Lisa Lalonde, MA, RECE, Algonquin College Project Lead, Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play

Bio

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Maeghan James, Ph.D., Post-doctoral fellow, HALO Research Group & Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play

Bio

CCOP Projects

Outdoor ECE Community of Practice

Outdoor ECE Community of Practice

Outdoor Early Childhood Education Community of Practice

The Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play collaborative invites those interested in outdoor early childhood education to come join our community of practice!

Our community of practice is geared towards early childhood educators across Canada that are interested in and/or already in support of regularly bringing children outdoors. The overarching ethos is to promote collaboration, avoid duplication of efforts, empower practitioners to promote outdoor play opportunities across a variety of settings, and ensure outdoor ECE programming is culturally appropriate and place-based.Some specific goals include the development of quality indicators for best practices in licensed outdoor ECE programs and the development of an outdoor ECE needs assessments to inform the ongoing development and evolution of outdoor ECE resources and tools.

Sign up here: https://forms.gle/AUhFeahK6Hovanum6

 

Not quite ready to join, but still looking for ways to engage? Share what you feel is important for outdoor pedagogical practice here.

National Outdoor ECE Panel

National Outdoor ECE Panel

Canadian National Panel on Licensing Outdoor Early Childhood Education

This National Panel will advance efforts towards changing ECE licensing regulations across provinces in Canada. The ultimate goal is to achieve – in part through policy, system, and sector advocacy by the National Panel – a commitment by provincial governments to support equitable access to outdoor ECE for all children living in Canada by making these programs eligible for fee subsidy through local municipalities. These efforts will in turn lead to the normalization of outdoor play and learning at a societal level. The National Panel will serve to identify what is being done in the outdoor ECE sector and leverage those efforts in addressing ongoing and new licensing issues and constraints across provinces. There is already work being done in Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and British Columbia to advance this cause and there are many across other provinces interested in starting this journey. The National Panel aims to bring together these interested parties to celebrate successes, use progress and achievements to leverage change, and work through barriers in licensing together.

The National Panel is part of a 5-year initiative to launch the Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play that aims to bring together outdoor ECE practice, research, and policy to mainstream outdoor play and learning for the early years. Learn more about the Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play here.

The call for leaders to join this newly formed panel is now closed. However, we are always keen to find new ways to engage with passionate members of the outdoor play community!

Have an idea? Contact us!
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Danielle Alphonse

Qwul’stun’a’wat, Cowichan, Kahnienkehake, Welsh, Scottish ECE, BA CYC, MA Ed, Ph.D Candidate, Vanier Scholar, BC Regional Innovation Chair for Aboriginal Early Childhood Development, Early Childhood Education and Care Faculty, Vancouver Island University

Bio

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Mariana Brussoni

Professor and Director, Human Early Learning Partnership, Faculty of Medicine | Pediatrics | School of Population & Public Health, The University of British Columbia | BC Children's Hospital Research Institute

Bio

Jane

Jane Cawley

Educational Consultant, Physical Literacy in the Early Years (PLEY) research project, Dalhousie University

Bio

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Diane Daley

CEO, Family Day Care Services

Bio

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Beverlie Dietze, PhD

Director of Learning and Teaching, Okanagan College

Bio

Joe

Joe Doiron

Independent Specialist, Physical Activity and Population Health, Joe Doiron Consulting

Bio

Mavis

Mavis Lewis-Webber

ECE Consultant

Bio

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Alyson McMullen

Program Manager, Natural Curiosity

Bio

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Sylvie Melsbach

Soutien au partenariat et aux aires de jeu RCPEM, Directrice technique de l’IQSAJ

Bio

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Lisa Menzies

Co-founder, Common Digs

Bio

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Laura Molyneux

Co-founder, Cloudberry Forest School

Bio

Photo: Brittany Gawley

Kelly Stone

Board Chair Great Kids (US), Board Director Families Canada

Bio

Support for the CCOP

The Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play has been funded in memory of John and Susanne Graham.

 

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