Thank you to Dr. Nicholas Ravanelli and Dr. Shawnda Morrison for providing this post Are you feeling the heat this summer? The Active Heatwave study is being conducted by Dr. Nicholas Ravanelli (PhD, CSEP-CEP) and Outdoor Play Canada member Dr. Shawnda Morrison (PhD, CSEP-CEP), to investigate how children and adults perceive ambient temperature changes throughout the summer. Why...
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...
Thank you to Dr. Lauren Pinault, Statistics Canada, for providing this post. Greenness is linked to good health It may not surprise you to learn that living in areas that are surrounded by greenness, such as large trees, gardens, and natural vegetation, can be beneficial to our health. We have previously shown that higher levels of greenness around the home are associated with a lower risk...
You are invited to complete an anonymous survey on the major priorities and actions for the Canadian outdoor play sector (e.g., outdoor play oriented education, research, policy, organizations, community & youth programs) moving forward over the next five years. This survey is being done as part of a larger Outdoor Play in Canada State of the Sector Report, which will serve as an account...
Thank you to Susanna Abraham Cottagiri, Carleton University, for providing this post. The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that only 9.3% of Canadian children and youth between the ages of 5 and 17 meet the recommended physical activity guidelines of 60 mins of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day. Active school commuting behaviours, such as walking...
Thank you to Josh Fullan, Director of Maximum City, a national engagement and education firm, for providing this post. In the second spring of what feels like an interminable coronavirus pandemic, nobody would blame kids and parents for surrendering to a just-gotta-get-to-summer feeling. Hope is hard to come by in the third wave of a plague...
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...
Thank you to Dr. Negin Riazi, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Health Sciences at Brock University, for providing this post. Children’s independent mobility refers to a child’s freedom to travel and play in their neighbourhood without the supervision of adults. However, there has been a steep generational decline in children’s independent mobility which is quite...
The LEGO Foundation recently released a new report entitled 'Learning Through Play: Increasing impact, reducing inequality', a review of evidence from around the world on play and learning in early childhood programs. Among the main findings of the report include the observation that learning through play can help children from all backgrounds develop the wide range...
Thank you to Eun-Young Lee, PhD, School of Kinesiology & Health Studies at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, Stephen Hunter, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and Mark S. Tremblay, PhD, Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada,...
