Schoolyards Count, produced by Kelly Gallagher-Mackay (Wilfrid Laurier University), Christine Corso (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), and Tammy Shubat (Ophea), reports on the quality of schoolyards across Ontario using data from citizen scientists. The report provides a review of why schoolyards matter for the health and wellbeing of students, a review of the gaps...
The 2020 Designing Streets for Kids Guide is a supplement to The Global Street Design Guide, collaboratively produced by the National Association of City Transportation Officials and Global Designing Cities Initiative. This new Guide is a comprehensive, inspirational, yet practical guide that challenges us all to imagine a better way forward for our urban streets. Among...
Andrew Fleck Child Services, in partnership with Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group and Child and Nature Alliance of Canada, is constructing a multi-purpose iconic building on National Capital Commission (NCC) property, with the goal of promoting children’s play and learning outdoors on a regular and repeated basis. This building will house three primary functions: ...
On June 13, 2020, the Education Hub, based out of New Zealand, hosted an early childhood education (ECE) webinar entitled 'The importance of outdoor play and how to design outdoor spaces in ECE' featuring OPC Leadership Group Member Dr. Mariana Brussoni. This webinar covered the latest research on outdoor play, risky play, and play in...
The 2020 review 'How Play Streets supports the development of physical literacy in children' was launched by the Centre for Sport and Social Impact at La Trobe University and commissioned by Play Australia. This review is an evaluation of the 1000 Play Streets project, which aims to 'support Australians in reclaiming their streets as places...
The Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) put together a shared folder of COVID-19 resources to promote knowledge sharing and provide support for the parks and recreation sector in their efforts to address the challenges presented by the COVID-19 outbreak and related restrictions. In this shared folder there are templates, tools, and guidelines including those...
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, a coalition led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and TED-Ed, has come together to launch “Earth School,” a series of free, high-quality educational resources to support learning around the world while students, teachers, and parents are at home. Earth School takes students on a 30-day “Adventure” through...
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) on 20 November 2019, Play Wales published a new report where children and teenagers talk about what’s good about the play opportunities in their local area and how satisfied they are about when, how and where they can...
Led by a team of researchers, early childhood educators, governmental agencies, and professionals in BC, the Seven Cs is an informational guide for early childhood educators, designers, administrators, and parents. The goal of Seven Cs is to help people design outdoor play spaces that support the development of young children and integrate the unique qualities...
As a “How-To Guidebook,” the Outdoor PLAYbook offers a selection of leading research and best practices for school grounds in the following areas: landscape architecture, sustainable design, economic and phasing strategies, child development, injury prevention, and outdoor educational opportunities. The Outdoor PLAYbook was funded by the Vancouver School Board and won an award in 2017 from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. The Outdoor PLAYbook is available at www.outdoorplaybook.ca....
