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...
Coping with Changes: Social-Emotional Learning Through Play Online 9-week course, produced by the Lego Foundation, explores the practical and emotional challenges facing children, guides practitioners in discovering learning through play, and discusses COVID-19-related stress management strategies. Topics covered in the course include: Foundations of learning through play Importance of mental health and psychological support/social emotional learning...
Streets for Pandemic Response & Recovery, by the National Association of City Transportation Officials and Global Designing Cities Initiative, is a report that provides cities with strategies to redesign and adapt their streets for new uses during the COVID-19 pandemic and in recovery. Among their recommendations is the prioritization of policies and network strategies for...
The COVID-19 Well-Being Risk Assessment (COBRA) Study, produced by Maximum City, is an ongoing survey of the behaviours, feelings, and opinions of Canadian children and youth (as reported themselves) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is to understand the impact COVID-19 related disruptions have on children and youth and identify gaps in support. Regularly updated...
COVID-19 guidance for schools Kindergarten to Grade 12, produced by the Government of Canada, was developed to support administrators and public health authorities in considering potential risks and mitigation strategies associated with the resumption of in-school classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The document provides guidance on topics including: play while maintaining physical distancing, shared recreation...
The Playbook 2030: A Guide to Building Canada's Most Livable Region, produced by ActiveCity Collective, is a systematic analysis of how the active economy impacts the economic, human, social, and environmental prosperity of Calgary and the region. Outdoor Play Canada provided feedback on the final draft of the Playbook, highlighting outdoor play as a key...
The Canadian Parks and Recreation Association hosts free webinars throughout the year that offer tools, resources, and best practices for parks and recreation practitioners in Canada. Check out the webinar series (including recordings of past webinars) here....
Spotlight: Creativity, A 2020 HundrED research report, by the LEGO Foundation and hundrED, highlights leading education innovations from around the world, including the Walking Curriculum, a Canadian initiative led by Gillian Judson that aims develop students’ Sense of Place and enrich their curricular learning through 60 different walks. Check out the full Spotlight Creativity Report here....
Room to Play Consulting, led by Megan Zeni, aims to transform children’s experiences of school through outdoor play and learning, shift perceptions towards play as a legitimate pedagogical approach, and support teachers in getting more kids outdoors more often. Room to Play offers professional development for teachers on all things outdoor play that includes: Cross-curricular...
Outdoor Play Canada is among 8 recipients of the Lawson Foundation's Outdoor Play Strategy 2.0 funding pool. As part of this project pool, we aim to galvanize the outdoor play movement across Canada and power it to new levels. We have the following 5 strategic priorities: Establish and operate OPC Provide leadership and strategic direction for...
