Park People’s 2024 Canadian City Parks Report, titled "Bridging the Gap," examines how partnerships and collaborations can help overcome the pressing challenges facing Canada’s park sector today. With insights from cities across Canada, this sixth annual edition highlights strategies to advance urban park development and management while fostering vibrant, inclusive, and resilient spaces for all. To...
The Canadian Centre for Outdoor Play (CCOP) recently hosted a special webinar on the newly launched Outdoor ECE Framework, formally known as, Educators Teaching Educators: Canada’s Outdoor Early Childhood Education Continuous Professional Learning Framework. Developed by the CCOP, this innovative framework was brought to fruition using valuable insights from early learning professionals across Canada, with the...
Outdoor Play Canada and Children & Nature Denmark recently came together to present a special webinar on supporting outdoor play and learning for children disabilities. This session highlighted the ongoing work of two national outdoor play organizations and research findings on inclusive and accessible outdoor play and learning from both Canada and Denmark. To watch this...
The Canadian Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA) has recently developed the Activate Your Neighbourhood (AYN) guide - filled with ideas, links, and resources - to help Canadians reimagine, rethink, and repurpose the spaces in their neighbourhoods to support and encourage physical activity and social connections. To find out more about the AYN tactical guide, created for people who...
Child Health BC, with partners Sport for Life Society, YMCA of Greater Vancouver, Childhood Healthy Living Foundation, and BC Recreation and Parks Association developed the Appetite to Play program to build physical activity, physical literacy, and food literacy capacity in early years settings. Appetite to Play provides a web resource, toolkit, and training workshops for...
Kim Hiscott, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Andrew Fleck Children's Services sat down with Debbie Groff, Child Care Deputy Senior Administrator for the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) in Washington State. In 2021, Washington State became the first state in the US to license outdoor, nature-based childcare programs for preschool and school-age children....
Extend summertime nature exploration and its many benefits for children with the Screentime Action Network at Fairplay's Children and Family Nature Inspiration Guide, created by their very own Nature & Play Working Group. Designed to jumpstart outdoor creativity and exploration, this guide is filled with: · Creative outdoor activities · Nature timekeeping tools · Evidence-based resources on nature’s many benefits Click here...
The Let's Move Canada podcast published an episode on Risky Play with Dr. Suzanne Beno and Dr. Mariana Brussoni. Dr. Suzanne Beno is a pediatric emergency medicine physician based at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, and senior author of the new Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS)'s Position Statement on Outdoor Risky Play. Dr....
The Canadian Health and Fitness Institute welcomed Diane Nelson, Director of Education for the West Vancouver School District, to share her thoughts on the critical role of movement and physical activity on National Health and Fitness Day on June 1st, 2024. Diane shared key insights from research on the benefits of physical activity and the...
Check-out OPC's inaugural Annual Report to learn about everything we've been up to in our first year as a not-for-profit organization! We're immensely proud and honoured to be leading several exciting collaborative, cross-sectoral projects both in Canada and internationally. We could not have done it without our new and growing team of staff, students, and...
