The Alberta Recreation & Parks Association has a series of tools to support municipalities in creating Play Declarations; formal, signed commitments for communities/municipalities to share a vision for play. Resources include 'how-to' guides, video presentations and executive summaries for use with decision-makers, and webinar presentations for practitioners (featuring a quote from OPC Chair Dr. Mark...
Funding for Outdoor Play in Canada supports funders and grant seekers in finding common ground and building partnerships to advance the multiple issue areas that overlap with outdoor play. To find out more about current themes and trends, read the full Funding for Outdoor Play in Canada Report here....
The Greenspace and Ecohealth Toolkit 2017, produced by Ecohealth Ontario, provides resources, guidance and assistance to those interested in making lasting improvements in community health through greenspace provision, access, and design. This resource aims to support policy makers and program deliverers in increasing opportunities for Ontario residents at all life stages to live, work, play,...
In 2017, Peterborough Public Health undertook an extensive review of evidence related to outdoor playspaces for children in response to an observed increase in playground injury rates in Peterborough compared to the rest of the province. The review focuses on evidence related to the benefits of outdoor play, safety and risk, injury prevention, physical activity,...
UpLift for Healthier Generations, a policy initiative focused on unstructured outdoor play for children and youth in Nova Scotia, aims to promote community contribution to physical activity and complement school physical activity policy. The policy development framework of UpLift consists of the following: Examine child health and well-being in communities Develop a definition of unstructured...
Child Friendly Participatory Design by Evergreen is an approach in which experts in the field of child-friendly participation work with schools, municipalities, government, and the corporate sector to innovate sustainable, child-friendly public spaces and experiences. Meaningful involvement of children and young people is at the heart of Evergreen's work. This informational resource includes definitions of...
Right to Play: A fundamental necessity for healthy development! is a fact sheet co-published by the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children and International Play Association Canada that outlines areas of action to promote children's play. Areas of action include: Promoting awareness among parents, caregivers, education professionals, recreation leaders, planners, decision makers on the importance...
Mentoring Nature Connections is a British Columbia-based blog dedicated to supporting teachers in gaining confidence with outdoor teaching and learning. Resources on this site focus on Reggio-inspired practices, including: Student-led learning Collaboration between parents, teachers, other community members Use of '100 languages' to communicate Environment as a third teacher Teacher as a facilitator Loose parts...
The Playgroundology blog advocates for a wider variety of play opportunities for kids in public spaces. Since 2010, the blog has published 450 posts about play in various locations around the world that have been read by parents, play enthusiasts, practitioners, and policy makers in over 200 countries. The award-winning blog is referenced by readers...
The University of British Columbia is among 8 recipients of the Lawson Foundation's Outdoor Play Strategy 2.0 funding pool. Their project, entitled 'PROmoting Early Childhood Outside (PRO-ECO): An Outdoor Play Intervention for Children Aged 3 to 5 Years in Early Learning and Child Care Programs' aims to increase children's time in quality outdoor play in Early...
