A New Research Chair in Outdoor Education (Chaire de recherche sur l’éducation en plein air (CREPA)) has been created at Sherbrooke University, Quebec! Professor Jean-Philippe Ayotte-Beaudet, the Research Chair for this program, will receive $625,000 in financial support over five years from the Ministry of Education in Quebec for his work exploring outdoor teaching practices...
This article was originally published in the BC Aboriginal Child Care Society's Caring for our Children Newsletter. Thank you to Rachel Ramsden, PhD student, and Dr. Mariana Brussoni, Associate Professor, from the School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia for providing this post. “It’s too cold!” “It could be dangerous!” “It’s so much easier...
The Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) workshop series 'Gender Equity in Recreational Sport' is an educational series that aims to help build organizational capacity in four areas: organizational culture change and shared commitment, creative community engagement, facility design to attract and encourage use, and evaluating outcomes. This series is in direct alignment with the...
Thank you to Dr. Eva Oberle, Dr. Mariana Brussoni and Megan Zeni (University of British Columbia) for providing this post. This article was originally published in The Conversation. When children step out of their traditional elementary school classroom to learn outdoors, they experience a wide range of benefits. Outdoor learning is fun, active and fosters creativity and problem solving. Outdoor...
Thank you to Beverlie Dietze, Play Outdoors Magazine, for providing this post. In partnership with some of Canada’s outdoor play educators, Play Outdoors magazine is offering a multitude of workshop topics to educate, inspire, and bring new ideas to educator's early learning and childcare practice. The 2021 Fall workshops include: Exploring the Benefits of Taking Learning Outdoors Presenter: Dr....
On Friday, June 18th, OPC's Dr. Louise de Lannoy presented at the 2021 Virtual Play Conference, an annual educational conference held by the US Play Coalition. This year, due to pandemic restrictions, the conference was held online from April 1st to June 30th, 2021 with weekly networking events and presentations, recorded and available for viewing...
On April 29th, 2021, OPC's Research Manager, Dr. Louise de Lannoy, presented on the importance of promoting, protecting, and preserving access to outdoor play at the Alberta Recreation & Parks Association Summit Monthly Meeting. Cynthia Watson from ActiveCity Collective also gave a presentation, in which she discussed the ActiveCity Collective initiative and their holistic approach...
On Thursday, April 22nd, 2021, Families Canada will host Active for Life in a new webinar highlighting findings from a recent study in childcare centres on the benefit of active play and physical literacy for helping children cope with stress, build resilience, and engage in a healthy lifestyle. This webinar is designed for practitioners. Learn more...
On Friday, April 16th at 12pm EST, Outdoor Play Canada will be hosting their next townhall. At this meeting, we will discuss the equity, diversity, and inclusion process among outdoor-oriented organizations. We aim to have an open conversation about this process. We aim to listen and learn, share interesting thoughts and ideas, and gather informational stories...
On March 30th, 2021 at 12pm CST, Sask in Motion will be hosting their final Leaders' Series webinar. The panel talk will focus on the City of Calgary's experience creating a play charter and adventure playground, featuring OPC Leadership Group member Heather Cowie, in addition to Adam Bienenstock (Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds), Stephanie Won (City of Calgary)...
