On April 7, 2022 Dr. Trevor Hancock delivered a webinar on behalf of the Canadian Public Health Association entitled 'Our Planet, Our Health, Our Public Health Responsibility', in which he discusses climate change as the greatest public health challenge we now face, and efforts such as promoting outdoor play and learning as part of the...
This latest report from Maximum City summarizes data on children and youth's play, physical activity, emotions and healthy growth during the third wave of the pandemic in Ontario, in the spring and early summer of 2021. The results highlight the role of outdoor play and physical activity in maintaining emotional wellbeing and healthy growth during...
The 'Standards for healthy eating, physical activity, sedentary behaviours and sleep in early childhood education and care settings: a toolkit' provides implementation recommendations and standards for promoting healthy movement and eating behaviours in early childhood education (ECE) settings. The toolkit highlights the importance of providing opportunities in ECE settings for play to promote children's healthy...
Play to Thrive, a white paper produced by Maximum City, makes the case for the fundamental importance of play for children's ability to learn and thrive in the 21st century. The report provides an overview of the current state of global crises, how play may help children navigate these crises, why it is important to...
The Alberta Recreation & Parks Association has a series of tools to support municipalities in creating Play Declarations; formal, signed commitments for communities/municipalities to share a vision for play. Resources include 'how-to' guides, video presentations and executive summaries for use with decision-makers, and webinar presentations for practitioners (featuring a quote from OPC Chair Dr. Mark...
Written by Tim Gill and published & copyrighted by Play Wales, the Weighing up risks and benefits in children's play info sheet outlines why risk is important in children's play, the importance of finding a balance between protecting against injury and promoting beneficial play opportunities, and guidance on how to do so. Read the full info...
As part of Canada's Outdoor Learning Store fall virtual workshop series, Christina Pickles from Get Outside and Play led a webinar on the importance of outdoor play for learning in the early years, with some practical ideas and resources on how to support children in their play and learning outdoors. Watch the full webinar here. Watch other...
The UK-based Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) project released a literature review on academic evidence that can inform OPAL's approach to play in schools. The report discusses the value of playtime in schools, in terms of monetary, intrinsic (children's enjoyment), and instrumental (play's value for things other than play itself), with the ultimate goal of improving...
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 Declaration on the Child's Right to Play in Canada, produced by IPA (International Play Association) Canada is a call for individuals and organizations across Canada to promote the child's right to play at local, regional and national levels. The Declaration outlines the benefits of play for children, the role of adults in supporting the...
