On October 21st, 2020, Take Me Outside (TMO) Day celebrated its 10-year anniversary, with more than 225,000 students and teachers participating across Canada. TMO activities also extended throughout the year, with the TMO Learning Challenge, a weekly outdoor challenge throughout the school year, and the 2020 Winter Challenge, a mid-winter outdoor challenge. To support educators...
Frontier College Summer Literacy Camps is a play-based learning partnership with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) communities across Canada. Each camp is unique, reflecting the identity, diversity, and priorities of the partner community. Camp programming is designed to inspire a lifelong love of reading. Camp is a community-wide event, featuring participation from parents, Elders,...
Frontier College Summer Reading Tents is a partnership with community groups across Canada to inspire and nurture a love of reading among children. This play-based learning initiative is held during the summer months and involves story time, a movement-based and/or arts-based activity, and ends with each participant receiving a free book of their choice to...
In 2017, Peterborough Public Health undertook an extensive review of evidence related to outdoor playspaces for children in response to an observed increase in playground injury rates in Peterborough compared to the rest of the province. The review focuses on evidence related to the benefits of outdoor play, safety and risk, injury prevention, physical activity,...
Girl Gone Good provides insight and resources for trails in the Ottawa region and beyond, including an extensive library of trail guides, suggested itineraries (e.g., insight into local towns and cafes close to trails), a trail finder map, and resources on how to be a responsible and safe hiker. They also have a series of...
Get Outside & Play is an Alberta-based organization that supports nature connection and outdoor experiences for young children. Resources include online training sessions on play and learning, inspirational blog posts, as well as how-to guides on topics such as dressing for the weather, teaching the 4 elements, and outdoor play for parents and children. Check out...
The PLEY (Physical Literacy and the Early Years) Project focused on improving physical literacy, physical activity and active outdoor play in Nova Scotia preschoolers through the integration of loose parts. Main findings of this project were summarized in a public-facing report and published in research-grade journals, were shared at the Summer of PLEY event in...
A Common Vision for Increasing Physical Activity and Reducing Sedentary Living in Canada: Let’s Get Moving Report, a national policy document by the Public Health Agency of Canada, provides guidance on ways to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary living. The Common Vision is guided by five interdependent principles: Physical Literacy, Life Course, Population Approach,...
The Benefits of Being in Nature factsheet by the Halifax Regional Municipality and the Nova Scotia Health Authority summarizes evidence on the benefits of being in nature including the benefits of outdoor play for children's healthy movement, which references the Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play. Also included in the factsheet is a list of...
UpLift for Healthier Generations, a policy initiative focused on unstructured outdoor play for children and youth in Nova Scotia, aims to promote community contribution to physical activity and complement school physical activity policy. The policy development framework of UpLift consists of the following: Examine child health and well-being in communities Develop a definition of unstructured...
