YMCA's National Playing to Learn curriculum was expanded upon by YMCA of Southwestern Ontario to shift the focus of the program towards self-directed and unstructured risky play for children, to support children's curiosities and interests while also building their resilience and confidence. Their curriculum is rooted in research on the association between outdoor play and...
The Glenora Child Care Society provides child care programming led by a philosophy based on the importance of play. Their website also boasts a number of resources for families and educators, including articles on risky play, winter play, and loose part play, as well as links to other useful sites. Check out their outdoor play resources...
Forest School Canada is the flagship educational project of the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada. They provide evidence-based, practical, and inspiring professional learning opportunities for everyone interested in supporting the healthy development of children through play and learning outside. Professional learning opportunities include the Forest and Nature School Practitioners Course as well as a number...
DASH (Dedicated Action for School Health) has created a resource to help support educators in bringing their classrooms outdoors, including an outdoor classroom checklist, tips for working with parents and school administrators, and links to other supporting information. Learn more about the DASH Outdoor Classroom here....
The Trottibus is a walking school bus project initiated by the Canadian Cancer Society to help elementary school children walk to school together in the morning, accompanied by parents and volunteers. The program aims to promote physical activity among children, parents, and volunteers, all while reducing car traffic around schools. Just like with a school...
Play Outdoors Magazine: Exploring Outdoor Experiences in Early Learning is devoted to bringing articles, inspiration and creative ideas to those who play a key role in shaping the first five years of a child's life. Articles are written by educators, practitioners, and researchers and include: how-to incorporate loose parts in the outdoor environment, books and...
Evergreen’s National School Ground Greening program works with school boards and school communities to transform their grounds into vibrant, nature rich environments, for play and learning. As part of this program, Evergreen has launched the Climate Ready Schools project to improve the overall design, management, and educational use of schools and schoolgrounds by mitigating flood...
Evergreen provides hands-on and virtual professional development workshops for teachers and early childhood educators interested in integrating nature, play, and experiential learning into their practice. The workshops are designed to equip educators with inquiry and play-based approaches that can be easily implemented into any space right away. Learn more about the Evergreen Professional Workshops here....
Since 2006, the OCDSB has offered an outdoor education experience to all OCDSB grade 3 and 7 classes through the “Every Student Attends Program”. The OCDSB “Every Student Attends Program” entitles each grade 3 & 7 class in the OCDSB to one free field trip per year to either Bill Mason or MacSkimming Outdoor Education...
In the face of continued COVID-19 lockdown measures, Creative Star Learning Ltd revamped their list of outdoor educational ideas and materials to further support educators during this challenging time. The list is separated into the following categories: Fabulous Facebook, Wonderful World Wide Webpages, and resources on the Creative Star Learning website itself! Check out the full resource...
