Outdoor Play Canada's Active Toy Guide - the holiday edition - is filled with gift ideas to help kids of all ages burn off steam, chart an outdoor adventure or just experience the joy of movement. Toys are organized into 9 categories: Classics, Family Game Time, Imagine It, Let's Play Ball, Outdoor Fun, Physical Literacy...
Dr. Michelle Stone and her team at Play Outside NS, based out of Dalhousie University, developed an outdoor loose parts play video based on their Summer of PLEY (Physical Literacy in the Early Years) knowledge translation event. The event took place in Summer 2019 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and showcases the many ways children engaged...
This infographic, produced by Muddy Smiles, describes the benefits of hiking for kids' healthy development and well-being, such as encouraging free play, inspiring use of imagination, improving judgement when risk-taking, and bolstering the ability to cope with adversity. Check out this and many more resources from Muddy Smiles, an organization that promotes the vital importance of...
Children at every age need lots of active outdoor play, every day, to grow up healthy, happy, and physically literate. Yet many parents find getting kids outside isn't as easy as it sounds. Active For Life has put together a collection of articles to help parents nudge their children to lace up their sneakers and...
The South Shore Active Communities has developed this infographic on the Adult Role in Outdoor Play, which includes key guidance statements from experts including Outdoor Play Canada's Leadership Group member, Dr. Mariana Brussoni. This work is part of a larger effort to build capacity and understanding about the value and role of Outdoor Play for healthy...
The new imaginative, educational, and playful wildlife series, 'Zamzoom's Animal Adventures', is now available online in Canada for streaming in both the TVOkids website and TVOkids Youtube channel. The series follows Zamzoom, an intrepid space alien, and his robot partner Orbie as they travel around planet Earth discovering wildlife and exploring what makes each species unique, all...
Nature Companion is a free app and website produced by EcoFriendly Sask that provides interesting and easy-to-understand information about >300 plants, trees, birds, animals, insects, reptiles, and amphibians found in Canada's four western provinces. Each short description includes colourful photographs and a Did you know? section with fun facts about each species. The tool is available on...
Are you interested in connecting children with nature through outdoor learning and play? Thrive Outside is the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada's newest (and free!) outdoor learning and play resource portal, available now! Designed by educators, for educators, Thrive Outside helps to re-imagine what back to school can look like beyond the classroom. There are...
This winter (and eventually, spring), the City of Calgary is continuing its self-directed, drop-in program that uses natural elements such as snow, tree stumps, tree cookies, branches, twigs and rocks to inspire active and creative outdoor play, and connect people, young and old, to nature, with onsite play ambassadors to inspire play. Parents are encouraged...
The Raising Canada Reports are published annually and provide an in-depth review of the top 10 threats to childhood. In 2020, the report focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these threats. In subsequent reports, the lasting impacts of COVID-19 on children's physical activity and play have continued to be a central theme...
