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...
This article was originally published on the University of Lethbridge website. Parents today likely won’t be surprised to know their children have far less freedom to travel in their neighbourhoods than they did. But what they might not know is how that could affect their children’s mental health. Dr. Richard Larouche, a Faculty of Health Sciences professor...
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...
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...
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...
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 Sarah Forrest, second year journalism student at Carleton University, for providing this post. Outdoor risky play is key for childhood development, says Canadian Paediatric Society, but it’s not quite so simple. In a statement released on Jan. 25, CPS defined risky play as “thrilling and exciting forms of free play that involve uncertainty of...
500 Days in the Wild is a new film that follows filmmaker Dianne Whelan through her six-year (a jaunt longer than the originally anticipated 500 days!) journey to cover the entire 24,000km of the Trans Canada Trail without a motor – by foot, bicycle, canoe, and kayak. Her story is one filled with joy and...
SaskOutdoors was recently interviewed by CBC on why it is important to get outdoors in the winter, how to do so safely, and where to go for resources to support outdoor play in all seasons. In their chat, Justine Wheeler, Outdoor Play Coordinator for SaskOutdoors, gave a shout-out to Outdoor Play Canada and the Outdoor...
