Through our partners at the CHEO Research Institute, we are recruiting a full-time Research Assistant to join the research arm of our Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play research-practice-policy partnership! See the LinkedIn post for more details and/or the job description below: RI-24-055 Research Assistant (HALO)...
Save the Date! The Breath of Fresh Air Summit 2025 will run from September 25-27, 2025 at the Ottawa Forest and Nature School and Wesley Clover Parks Campground in Ottawa ON! This three-day Outdoor Play Summit will bring together thought leaders, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers from across Canada and internationally to connect and share best outdoor...
Thank you to Søren Præstholm, Head of Children & Nature Denmark for providing this post. In recent decades, national surveys in Denmark have identified a substantial decrease in the time spent outside and in nature among children compared with earlier generations – similar to trends in many other countries. However, a new national survey of more...
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...
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...
Thank you to Dr. Ulises Charles Rodriguez, Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Calgary, and Dr. Richard Larouche, Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Lethbridge, for providing this post. The last few decades have been marked by increasing global migration, with millions crossing boarders in search of refuge, more opportunities or improved standards...
Thank you to Dr. Debra Harwood, Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Brock University, for providing this post. Researchers from Brock University are inviting Nature educators/individuals to participate in a research project on outdoor nature-based programs, entitled Outdoor and Nature-Based Early Learning in Canada: Revisiting the Scene Post-Pandemic. For this study, an outdoor nature-based program...
Thank you to Dr. Michelle Bauer, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia and Laura Cunningham, undergraduate student in the department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of British Columbia, for providing this post. A wealth of research demonstrates that there are developmental benefits for children’s participation in competitive...
Thank you to Dr. Eun-Young Lee, Assistant Professor at Queen's University and OPC Board Secretary, An-Chi Shih, Physiotherapy Student at McMaster University, and Dr. Mark Tremblay, Senior Scientist at the CHEO Research Institute and OPC Board President, for providing this post. In today's dynamic world, the significance of active play in children's development cannot be overstated....
