As part of the process of reviewing the Child Care and Early Years Act, the Ministry of Education in Ontario put out a call for submissions to discuss several components of the Act, including the potential to license Forest and Outdoor Programs. In response, Andrew Fleck Children's Services (AFCS), together with Child Nature Alliance of Canada...
Congratulations to Heather Wilson recently appointed as the new Child and Nature Alliance of Canada (CNAC) Executive Director! Heather spent two decades working with national non-profit and charitable organizations before joining CNAC in 2018 as the Director of Operations and Finance. While her most pressing priority is to support parents, practitioners, and educators to #thriveoutside during...
Thank you to Dr. Marja Roslund (University of Helsinki) for providing this post. New research demonstrates causality between exposure to natural biodiversity, commensal microbiota of children, and immune regulation. Comparative studies between children living in urban and rural environments have shown lower diversity of commensal microbiota and higher prevalence of immune-mediated diseases among children living in...
On Friday, November 13th at 9pm EST, CBC will be airing Kids vs Screens, a documentary from The Nature of Things that explores the impact of excess screen time on children and youth's mental health, development, and learning. Guest host Dan Riskin, a biologist, science journalist, and author explores the latest research on children and...
The Great Canadian Hike, a media campaign by The Great Trail, encouraged Canadians to experience the Great Trail of Canada and connect digitally during COVID-19. Canadians across the country were invited to participate in Canada’s largest coordinated, collective hike by logging (online) sections of the Great Trail for a chance to win prizes. Over 100,000...
To reduce the spread of COVID-19, public health authorities across the country have recommended that Canadians keep their distance, wash their hands, and stay home. To enforce these measures early in the pandemic, restrictions on outdoor behaviour were implemented, limiting access to parks, playgrounds, conservation areas and recreational outdoor spaces. Counterbalancing efforts to create more...
The Children and Nature Network hosts the annual Inside-Out International Conference and Leadership Summit; the largest gathering of nature connection advocates in the world. Conference themes focus on ensuring that children have access to the many benefits of nature and inspire new generations of environmental stewards. In 2020, their conference was held online and focused on...
En 2019-2020, près de 72 000 jeunes en milieu scolaire ou en groupes organisés ont été accueillis dans les parcs nationaux grâce aux activités offertes annuellement aux groupes scolaires et aux efforts conjoints avec nos partenaires. Pour une troisième année consécutive, la Sépaq a poursuivi sa collaboration à titre de partenaire à la mesure « À l’école,...
Pursuing its mission to connect as many people as possible with nature, Sépaq aims to be actively involved in promoting healthy habits and raising awareness about physical activity and spending time in nature among young people. Therefore, for a third consecutive year in 2019-2020, Sépaq continued its collaboration with the Education Ministry as a partner...
What is Outdoor Classroom day? Outdoor Classroom Day is a global campaign to inspire outdoor learning and play. On this day last year, hundreds of schools and over 3.5 million children joined together to bring awareness to the importance and benefits of bringing the classroom and playtime outside. These benefits include improving children’s overall health and...
