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...
KidScore & YouthScore, by Maximum City, is a child-friendly neighborhood assessment tool. This tool encourages children and youth to explore and measure how kid-friendly or youth-friendly an urban area is via a survey and affiliated activities. The survey and activities ask about ways to get around in an area, things for kids and youth to see...
The Street Design Challenge, by Maximum City, aims to engage Canadian children and youth in hands-on design and problem solving in redesigning neighborhood streets. Resources that are a part of this initiative include a Street Design Challenge Guide, Street Design Worksheets, as well as a Glossary of Terms. Learn more about the Street Design Challenge here....
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...
From 2015-2017, Vivo for Healthier Generations implemented its Play Ambassadors pilot outdoor play program in north-central Calgary. The goals of this program were to: 1) Increase unstructured, outdoor play through the creation of enriching environments for play. 2) Increase the quality of unstructured, outdoor play by training community members as Play Ambassadors in an evidence-based curriculum for...
The 'create nurturing outside environments: supporting infant and young children's free movement and active play' project by Regroupement des Centres de la Petite Enfance de la Montérégie (RCPEM) provided information and training to six pilot communities to address limitations in outdoor play, outdoor play spaces, and parental attitudes to outdoor play. They developed and tested...
Rockyview Play is an outdoor play space consultant firm that designs and builds nature-based projects for schools, communities, developers, municipalities, day care centres, and private clients. Their outdoor nature-based designs include the Dermot District Park Natural Playground in Edmonton, the Natural Playscape in Banff, and the Nellie McClung School naturescape model in Calgary. Learn more about...
The Wanuskewin Heritage Park interpretive playground in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, designed by Earthscape Play in collaboration with Crosby Hanna & Associates, was designed as an inviting space for children to explore and challenge themselves while making subtle connections (gathering circles, bison sculpture, rubbing rock) to the cultures and stories of the many Indigenous Peoples who have...
The Lion and The Mouse, a Montreal-based community organization that facilitates outdoor play programs in the city, offers Pop-Up Adventure Playgrounds in line with the work of Pop-Up Adventure Play. By introducing loose parts and inviting children to lead the way, these Pop-Ups encourage the re-appropriation of public space for play and nurture a culture...
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....
