What is Outdoor Classroom day? Outdoor Classroom Day is a global campaign to inspire outdoor learning and play. On this day last year, hundreds of schools and over 3.5 million children joined together to bring awareness to the importance and benefits of bringing the classroom and playtime outside. These benefits include improving children’s overall health and...
Thank you to Amber Fyfe-Johnson, ND, PhD (Washington State University) & Pooja Tandon, MD, MPH (Seattle Children’s Research Institute, University of Washington) for providing this post. The preschool years are a critical period in life for growth, development, and for laying the foundation for healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. Research suggests that many preschoolers in early...
Are you looking for a Breath of Fresh Air? The first national Outdoor Play Summit is only 50 days away! Join us September 27-29th, 2019 for a national forum on outdoor play, taking place in an open-air environment, located at the Ottawa Forest and Nature Schools and Wesley Clover Park’s Campground, where thought leaders, practitioners, researchers and...
This year’s ‘Kid’s Run for Nature’ raised over $180,000 in support of the conservation work of World Wildlife Fund Canada. The nation-wide movement, which was founded in 2015, now takes place in over 25 locations from coast to coast. Throughout the months of May, June, and July 2019, events were held in a variety of communities...
Ever since an unnecessary threat from police against a six-year-old simply playing a game of road hockey in front of his home, the residents in the town of Beloeil, Quebec have grown upset about the lack of opportunity that their kids have to play freely outside. Since then, street-play initiatives have resulted in the designation of...
The Alberta Recreation and Parks Association is a not-for-profit organization committed to building healthier, happier communities and citizens by developing and promoting recreation and parks. On Monday they released their Play Charter Guides. These ‘how to’ guides are intended to help municipalities and organizations improve play in their communities. They are based on the experiences...
Have you ever wondered how much daily weather conditions can actually impact physical activity levels in children and on which days of the week the impact is more prominent? To date, there is strong evidence that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with many health benefits in childhood. In Canada, insufficient physical activity in children remains...
Play Outside NS shares a common goal of promoting, facilitating and communicating the importance of outdoor play in the early years, to foster health and well-being. In July and August 2019, they hosted “Summer to PLEY” (Physical Literacy in the Early Years), a series of knowledge sharing events showcasing work from the PLEY project. They...
These days the primary goal of most home buyers is to maximize the size of their home, even if it sacrifices outdoor yard space. But how does this affect our children’s outdoor play? A recent Australian study published in Public Health Research & Practice, titled “Associations between the home yard and preschoolers’ outdoor play and physical activity,” discusses...
Ontario Parks recognizes the importance of connecting to nature and the positive effects it has on our well-being. As a part of the ‘Healthy Parks Healthy People’ campaign, visit your nearest Ontario park on July 19th, 2019 to join the celebration and enjoy free all-day access! There is so much to discover, with over 330...
