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Outdoor Play Environments

The Outdoor Learning School and Store is offering a free virtual workshop titled Outdoor Learning in the Early Years. This expert-led session features an incredible panel of educators, researchers, authors, and practitioners who will share practical tools, resources, and ideas to enhance your outdoor learning practices, specifically tailored for the early years. Among the esteemed...

Outdoor Play Canada is looking to hire a full-time Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play (CCOP) Fellow for one year to build capacity and thought-leadership for outdoor play stakeholders. As the CCOP Fellow, your role will be to lead advocacy and thought-leadership initiatives for the promotion of outdoor play in the early years, in collaboration with...

Since 2020, the PaRx Prescription for Nature program has meant that physicians first in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario (and now many more) could prescribe a Parks Canada Discovery Pass to their patients for the purposes of promoting physical and mental health. A collaboration between PaRx, an initiative driven by health care professionals that promotes...

Registration for the Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario's Annual Make Peace with Winter Conference is now open! The conference runs from the evening of Friday, January 24 to mid-day Sunday, January 26, 2025 at Camp Kawartha. This year's theme of "Winter's Embrace" encourages us to discover ways to engage with outdoor education in the winter...

Outdoor Play Canada and Children & Nature Denmark are presenting a special webinar on supporting outdoor play and learning for children disabilities. This session will highlight the ongoing work of two national outdoor play organizations and research findings on inclusive and accessible outdoor play and learning from both Canada and Denmark. Participants will engage in...

Save the Date! The Breath of Fresh Air Summit 2025 will run from September 25-27, 2025 at the Ottawa Forest and Nature School and Wesley Clover Parks Campground in Ottawa ON! This three-day Outdoor Play Summit will bring together thought leaders, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers from across Canada and internationally to connect and share best outdoor...

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 Dr. Michelle Bauer, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia and Laura Cunningham, undergraduate student in the department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of British Columbia, for providing this post. A wealth of research demonstrates that there are developmental benefits for children’s participation in competitive...

Earth Day is April 22! Showing your appreciation for this great planet can include any number of activities, such as powering down for an hour, getting outside to play, cleaning-up your neighborhood, meeting your neighbours for a walk, and leaving your car turned off! For more ideas, a number of organizations across Canada & beyond are...