Thank you to Dr. Mark Tremblay, chair of Outdoor Play Canada, for providing this post. Active outdoor play for children and families is an ideal antidote for COVID-19 transmission and coping mechanism for related restrictions - provided that public health guidance is followed. Outdoor play can help to cope with, contain, and combat COVID-19 – but...
On February 1st, 2021, the Great Trail hosted an expert panel on boosting mental health during the winter as part of their #Blahs2ahhhs campaign. Their four experts shared insights on the importance of getting outdoors in all seasons to boost mental health and provided ideas on how to stay active and healthy - mentally, physically,...
From January 23-24, 2021, the International Association of Children's Active Play and Sport (CAPS) hosted an online workshop entitled 'Designing Effective Non-Contact Active Play & Physical Education Activities for Children’s Classes' to support educators, physical education and sport coaches in delivering non-contact, fun and educational active play and physical education games during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among...
The Healthy Kids Community Challenge was a program funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care from 2015-2018 in Ontario that supported 45 communities in Ontario in improving children’s health through the promotion of healthy behaviours (improving physical activity and healthy eating, reducing screen time). Themes that were part of this program included 'Run....
Lawson Foundation invests $4.95 million in 8 demonstration projects, including Outdoor Play Canada, to build adult capacity to support outdoor play in Early Learning and Child Care The Lawson Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of the second phase of its Outdoor Play Strategy and an investment of $4.95 million in 8 demonstration projects,...
In a recent article for The Conversation, Professor Patrick Lewis and Master's student Whitney Blaisdell from the University of Regina, describe preliminary findings from their survey on play (or the lack thereof) during the pandemic, and provide recommendations on how to support play at home as we move forward into the new year. The authors make...
From 2017-2020, Evergreen together with the City of Kitchener, the Waterloo Region District School Board, and the Lyle. S. Hallman Family Foundation launched the Neighbourhood Nature Play Initiative. This Kitchener-based collaborative, community-led participatory initiative encouraged children and their families to play and learn in nature by transforming two local parks into vibrant hubs. Through this initiative,...
Over the winter holiday season, Milner Gardens & Woodland is encouraging families to get outdoors for play by creating a '12 days of Outdoor Play' challenge. The challenge encourages families to get outdoors every day for at least 30 minutes per day, 12 days in a row from Monday December 21, 2020 to Friday January...
The Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Annual Conference, hosted by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, aims to exchange ideas and engage in activities focused on sustainable city-landscape interactions. Topics covered in the virtual 2020 conference included: children, youth, and the environment, Indigenous knowledge and wisdom, sustainable urban design, urban-rural linkages, and vulnerable resilient and climate justice...
The Government of Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian Parks Council and Mount Royal University’s Institute for Environmental Sustainability, recently announced the launch of the Pan-Canadian Parks and Protected Areas Research Network. The Network is made up of scientists, researchers, Indigenous knowledge holders, students, and parks and protected areas specialists and managers, who collectively will...
