The University of British Columbia is among 8 recipients of the Lawson Foundation's Outdoor Play Strategy 2.0 funding pool. Their project, entitled 'PROmoting Early Childhood Outside (PRO-ECO): An Outdoor Play Intervention for Children Aged 3 to 5 Years in Early Learning and Child Care Programs' aims to increase children's time in quality outdoor play in Early...
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...
YMCA's National Playing to Learn curriculum was expanded upon by YMCA of Southwestern Ontario to shift the focus of the program towards self-directed and unstructured risky play for children, to support children's curiosities and interests while also building their resilience and confidence. Their curriculum is rooted in research on the association between outdoor play and...
On June 9th 2015, ParticipACTION released the 11th Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. In that report the authors identified that 'the biggest risk is keeping kids indoors' and highlighted findings from the Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play on the importance of outdoor play and outdoor risky play for children's health...
Play Outdoors Magazine: Exploring Outdoor Experiences in Early Learning is devoted to bringing articles, inspiration and creative ideas to those who play a key role in shaping the first five years of a child's life. Articles are written by educators, practitioners, and researchers and include: how-to incorporate loose parts in the outdoor environment, books and...
Dr. Sarah Moore from the Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, is featured among a series of five whiteboard animation videos focused on ‘Staying Healthy During a Pandemic.’ In her video, Dr. Moore describes the impact of COVID-19 on the movement behaviours of children, where in Spring 2020, less than 3% of Canadian children and youth...
Levelling the playing fields (LTPF) is a project by the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre (MUEC) and the School of Public Health at the University of Montreal (ESPUM) to deploy free-play pilot interventions in five Canadian communities using two innovative models of re-allocating urban space in favour of young children: the school street and the play...
The Lawson Foundation’s Outdoor Play Strategy is an integral part of their strategic direction and guides their efforts in exploring how outdoor play supports the healthy development of Canadian children and youth. They initially invested $2.7 million in 14 core projects, which grew to $4.5 million in related grants. Through a third-party evaluation, the Lawson...
Thinking about loose parts in school, produced by Play Wales, is an information sheet intended for practitioners in the education sector to learn about the use of loose parts during playtime and in the classroom. The information sheet includes a table on types and examples of loose parts, a summary of research interventions using loose parts...
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...
