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Health, Wellbeing & Development

The Children, Youth, & Environments Network of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA CYE) is thrilled to present an online webinar led by Louise Chawla, a Professor Emeritus in the Environmental Design Program at the University of Colorado Boulder. This webinar will explore the numerous benefits of connecting with nature while also addressing the challenges of...

Thank you to Taylor Bradbury, CHEO HALO Research Group Placement Student, Carleton University BHSc, for providing this post. It is widely accepted that time spent participating in outdoor physical activity (OPA) can have a positive impact on adolescent well-being, including mental health1. But how much OPA should youth be getting, and to what extent does it...

Thank you to Mads Bølling, Peter Elsborg, Lærke Mygind, Charlotte Demant Klinker, Glen Nielsen and Peter Bentsen for providing this post. Physical activity in schools is not just about keeping children active – it can also play a crucial role in supporting their learning and overall well-being. Many schools, especially in Western countries, have embraced outdoor...

Outdoor Play Canada is thrilled to announce that registration is open for the 2025 Breath of Fresh Air (BoFA) Outdoor Play Summit until September 10th! The BoFA Outdoor Play Summit will once again take place at Wesley Clover Parks in Ottawa, Ontario, from September 25-27, 2025, in partnership with the CHEO Research Institute, Andrew Fleck...

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...

Are you worried about the winter blues? Celebrating its 10th year in the UK and 2nd here in Canada, RED (Rise Every Day) January is a nationwide community that's open to individuals and teams of all ages and abilities. RED's philosophy is to empower all of us to move and boost our mood in the...

Since 2020, the PaRx Prescription for Nature program has meant that physicians first in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario (and now many more) could prescribe a Parks Canada Discovery Pass to their patients for the purposes of promoting physical and mental health. A collaboration between PaRx, an initiative driven by health care professionals that promotes...

From Dec 7-10, OPC held an intensive workshop in Seoul, South Korea on the 10th anniversary update to the Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play. This 3-day meeting was led by the executive team for this project: OPC Executive Director, Dr. Louise de Lannoy, OPC President, Dr. Mark Tremblay and OPC Secretary, Dr. Eun-Young Lee...

Active for Life's  monthly newsletter, Active Start, is tailored specifically to a child’s age and filled with activities, games, ideas, informative articles and tips designed to help children develop a love of being active. They have two newsletter categories: one for parents and caregivers of children newborn to 2 years of age, and another for...

Thank you to Dr. Mark Tremblay, OPC President and Senior Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute, for providing this post. Holiday gift ideas are often traditionally centered around material items, most of which being items that are not essential or needed and likely superfluous. Such things fill closets and cupboards, consume resources (natural and financial), and...