Playful Mindset offers programs to children and caregivers (parents) with a fantastic mission to disrupt adverse childhood experiences and support children’s mental health through outdoor play. This Fall they are offering programs in the Ottawa, Ontario region with the hopes to expand in coming years. One program we’re thrilled to hear about is their Outdoor Play...
Over the next 4 years, our colleagues at the University of British Columbia will be collaborating with Green Communities Canada, alongside Université de Montréal, Queen's University, Toronto Metropolitan University, 880 Cities and Centre d’écologie urbaine to evaluate School Streets in communities across Canada. The team will work together to build a greater understanding of the impacts...
Join us, June 27th 4:30-7:30pm at 415 Corkstown Rd in Ottawa to celebrate the grand opening of Forest Explorers, a licensed program of Andrew Fleck Children’s Services and home of the Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play! The Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play and Forest Explorers – a multi-use building located on 900 acres of National Capital...
June 21st is National Indigenous People's Day, a national celebration of the heritage, cultures, and achievements of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples. This day overlaps with the summer solstice, which is a significant day for many Indigenous cultures. It also falls within National Indigenous History Month, which this year will highlight specific aspects of...
BREAKING NEWS. Outdoor Play Canada, the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the CHEO Research Institute, Andrew Fleck Children’s Services, Algonquin College and the Canadian Disability Participation Project have recently been awarded funding for a 4-year project to address challenges in the built and social environment for outdoor play and learning in natural spaces for young children living...
Thank you to Nathan Zhang, summer student at the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the CHEO Research Institute, for providing this post. On June 11, 2024, we will celebrate the first-ever International Day of Play! This will mark the beginning of an annual global awareness day adopted by the United Nations in collaboration...
Congratulations to OPC Board Member, Dr Mariana Brussoni, who was awarded the 2024 Joe L Frost Award for distinguished research at the US Play Coalition Conference in Indiana held April 16-18, 2024! In the mid-2000s, Mariana dared to push back against the accepted attitude that play should be 'as safe as possible' instead of 'as...
Thank you to Dr. Ulises Charles Rodriguez, Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Calgary, and Dr. Richard Larouche, Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Lethbridge, for providing this post. The last few decades have been marked by increasing global migration, with millions crossing boarders in search of refuge, more opportunities or improved standards...
The 16th edition of the Report Card, Rallying for Resilience: Keeping Children and Youth Active in a Changing Climate, highlights how the current and impending effects of climate change could be particularly harmful for children and youth’s physical activity. Unfavourable weather and climate conditions like heatwaves, heavy rain and smoke-filled air can lead to recesses...
Thank you to Dr. Debra Harwood, Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Brock University, for providing this post. Researchers from Brock University are inviting Nature educators/individuals to participate in a research project on outdoor nature-based programs, entitled Outdoor and Nature-Based Early Learning in Canada: Revisiting the Scene Post-Pandemic. For this study, an outdoor nature-based program...
