Thank you to Sam Grimmett Batt for providing this post. This article was originally published on August 5, 2026 by UK Community Foundations. My kids just broke up from school for the summer. Alongside the relief that the morning scramble is over for a time and a growing panic about filling four more weeks, I’ve been thinking...
Thank you to Tammy Potter, RECE, FNS Practitioner and Supervisor of Forest Explorers and Ottawa Forest and Nature School for providing this post! In 2025, Andrew Fleck Children’s Services, thanks to Lawson Foundation funding, partnered with Algonquin College on a year-long research project exploring the evolution of outdoor play and learning at our outdoor-focused early childhood education...
Thank you to Louise Zimanyi for providing this post. This article was originally published in the Conversation. In spring, on the traditional and treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, young children, Anishinaabe storytellers and educators walk together with Aki (Land) and Nibi (Water). I’m a researcher and professor of early childhood and someone of French-Canadian and Hungarian descent living as...
We are excited to share a new resource developed by the National Panel on Regulating Outdoor and Land-based ECE and supported by former BELCD students Jade Groompike, Kiera Publow, Eva Quenneville, Hannah Raudssus (who now works with OPC as a project assistant!), and Emma Zimolong: a national map tracking efforts to regulate Outdoor and Land-Based...
This article was originally published in Children, Youth and Environments 36(1), 2026 When we published our paper “Environmental Scan of Child and Youth Outdoor Play-Based Projects, Programs, Activities and Services Available in Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” pandemic-related restrictions were in full swing in Canada, and thankfully, educators and administrators were reacting by bringing the learning...
Thank you to Laurel Donison (Lecturer) and Marlene Frederick (Kindergarten Teacher and Forest School Course Instructor) with King’s University College at Western University for providing this post. Trail Blazers: King’s University College is implementing a Forest School Pedagogy and Practice course in the Childhood and Youth Studies Department. A new trail is being blazed at King’s University...
Thank you to Cécile Tang (Project Coordinator) and Hannah Raudssus (Project Assistant) with the Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play’s SPROUT-able Project, for providing this post. On May 8th and 9th, two of us from the SPROUT-able team had the opportunity to attend and lead two workshops at the Early Years Outdoor Play Conference 2026 held in Espanola, ON. The conference was organized by Our Children, Our Future,...
Thank you to the Saskatchewan collective for providing this post! The Outdoor Play Collective of Saskatchewan is a province-wide collaboration dedicated to advancing outdoor play as an essential part of everyday life. With a shared vision of a Saskatchewan where people of all ages engage in outdoor play year-round, the collective works to ensure that opportunities to...
The importance of outdoor play and learning in the lives of children and communities has never been greater. Growing evidence reveals the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social benefits of outdoor activity for children. Despite these benefits, trends toward indoor lifestyles, urbanization, digital entertainment and schooling, and safety concerns have led to a notable decline in outdoor time....
Thank you to Cécile Tang (Project Coordinator) and Hannah Raudssus (Project Assistant) with the Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play’s SPROUT-Able Project, for providing this post. On April 10th 2026, two of us from the SPROUT-able team had the opportunity to attend the Belonging Outdoors: Nature-Based Early Learning-Gathering, listening, reflecting...
