The SPROUT-able Project is a four-year project led by the Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play (CCOP). It builds off the SPROUT study, a three-year research initiative led by the Healthy Active Living and Obesity (HALO) Research Group and the University of Ottawa, as part of the CCOP.
SPROUT-able is a research-practice-policy project that explores how children with disabilities engage in outdoor play and learning. Through this exploration, our team aims to enhance the physical and social environments of outdoor childcare programs, support professional development for early childhood educators, and design evidence-based strategies to promote inclusive outdoor play. These project initiatives are led by Outdoor Play Canada’s Project Coordinator, Cécile Tang, and Project Assistant Hannah Raudssus, RECE, to integrate a strong practice-based perspective into the research. The research arm of SPROUT-able is spearheaded by Dr. Maeghan James, Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa and Investigator, CHEO Research Institute, in collaboration with Dr. Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos and the ADAPT Lab at the University of Toronto.