The importance of outdoor play and learning in the lives of children and communities has never been greater. Growing evidence reveals the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social benefits of outdoor activity for children. Despite these benefits, trends toward indoor lifestyles, urbanization, digital entertainment and schooling, and safety concerns have led to a notable decline in...
Thank you to Dr. Richard Larouche, Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Lethbridge, for providing this post. Which factors predict outdoor play in Canadian 7- to 12-year-olds? Previous studies and literature reviews have consistently found that children who spend more time outdoors are more physically active and generally have better physical, social, mental, and...
Outdoor Play Canada is looking to hire a full-time Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play (CCOP) Fellow for one year to build capacity and thought-leadership for outdoor play stakeholders. As the CCOP Fellow, your role will be to lead advocacy and thought-leadership initiatives for the promotion of outdoor play in the early years, in collaboration with...
We are recruiting a Project Coordinator to join our Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play research-practice-policy partnership. This role is specifically focused on managing our SPROUT-Able project, exploring how to support children with disabilities in outdoor play and learning in natural spaces! For more details see the job description below: CCOP Project Coordinator Posting December 2025...
Thank you to Dr. Louise de Lannoy, Executive Director, Outdoor Play Canada, and Kim Hiscott, Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Fleck Children's Services, for providing this post. Why play outside when its cold? What are the benefits? The health benefits of outdoor play are clear and wide-reaching… but what about in winter time? Is it safe to play...
Thank you to Dr Monica McGlynn-Stewart, professor at George Brown College, for providing this guest post. In our recent article we discuss a three-year qualitative research study (2020-2023) in which we explored the impact on early years educators’ knowledge, perspectives, and pedagogies when introduced to Indigenous perspectives on Land-Based Learning in 10 urban preschool early learning...
Thank you to Michelle Stahlhut, Forsker, PT, PhD (Center for Klinisk Forskning og Forebyggelse) for providing this post on behalf of the Danish MOVEOUT-SPECIAL Project Team. Researchers from the Danish MOVEOUT-SPECIAL project have published a scoping review highlighting what is currently known about education outside the classroom (EOtC) for children with neurodevelopmental disorders in special education...
(This posting was originally published on the HALO website) Congratulations to OPC team members Drs. Mark Tremblay (OPC Board President), Louise de Lannoy (Executive Director) and Maeghan James (Postdoctoral fellow) on their presentations at the International Society of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) Congress, June 11-14, 2025! See the presentations below. Duncan S, Tremblay MS, de Lannoy...
Thank you to Ivana Polackova, Dr. Louise de Lannoy, and Taylor Bradbury for providing this post. This post is featured on Ciernalabu. Less than five per cent of Canadian teenagers spend at least two hours a day outdoors in physical activity – despite the fact that this very time frame brings significant benefits for their mental well-being...
Thank you to Dr. Kerry Crofton for providing this post. This article was originally published in Mindful. In the summer of 2014, I participated in the first-ever digital detox retreat, Camp Grounded in Northern California. My camp name was Momma Zen. Each morning, I led mindfulness practice to ease the adult campers’ edgy tech cravings, guiding them through simple breath...
