Some of our fondest memories are from spending time playing outside yet children nowadays are being limited in their ability to roam and play out of doors. Earth Day Canada believes outdoor play is the foundation of environmental education and action and should be a natural part of the day to day lives of children....
Happy Take Me Outside Day! This day is a reminder to get outside. Unplug. Be active. Connect with nature. Play in the fresh air. Believe it or not, Canadian youth are spending nearly 8 hours a day in front of screens and as a result outdoor time is dwindling. This lack of outdoor time is impacting our health...
With a growing body of evidence supporting the link between a healthy environment and healthy society, the Healthy Parks, Healthy people movement which originally launched in Australia, has expanded to receive global attention. In May (1-2) 2019, Ottawa will be hosting the two day Healthy Parks, Healthy People Forum to bring together parks and recreation professionals,...
From September 27th-29th, 2018, the University of British Columbia Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies hosted the Levelling the Playing Fields: Strategies to Promote Outdoor Play 2018 Roundtable. The goal of the roundtable was to develop a (research) strategy for systematically creating opportunities for outdoor play in schools and communities in Canada. Learn more about this...
"The Classroom in Open Air" Project, by Naomi W. Reichstein The Classroom in Open Air Project, by Naomi W. Reichstein for the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, aimed to examine which Vancouver-area schools use parks, which parks are most popular for school use, which subjects are taught outdoors, and what other school-based activities occur in...
From May 8-10, 2018, the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association hosted The Gathering Strength: Framework for Recreation in Canada 2018 Forum, to build relationships, continue dialog and work in cooperation towards achieving the values, goals, and priorities identified in the 2015 A Framework for Recreation in Canada – Pathways to Wellbeing. Forum sessions focused on...
On April 21st, 2018, Ecology Ottawa hosted their annual summit, with the theme Activate Ottawa Parks. The goal of the summit was to foster relationships between people in the community, generate ideas for ongoing participation, and build momentum to make Ottawa parks even better. Learn more about the 2018 Summit here, and about other events hosted...
The StreetPLAY Pilot Program, led by Earth Day Canada in collaboration with the City of Toronto, closed 7 street sections in an inner-urban neighbourhood in Toronto to promote children's play. Researchers from the TRANSFORM lab (led by OPC's Leadership Group Member, Dr. Raktim Mitra) at Ryerson University evaluated the pilot project to assess the impact...
In 2017, the International Play Association hosted their Triennial World Play Conference: Unleashing the Power of Play, in Calgary, Alberta. This triennial conference is for play researchers, advocates, designers, educators, practitioners, providers, and policymakers and aims to celebrate play, understand its many benefits, and provide all children with the chance to engage in rich, meaningful,...
From May 30-31, 2016, KidActive led a 2-day Risky Play and Outdoor and Unstructured Play Workshop at the Thunder Bay and District Health Unit as part of the Healthy Kids Community Challenge; a program funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-term care aimed at improving children's health by promoting healthy behaviours. The Risky Play...
