tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/outdoor-play-61764/articlesOutdoor play – The Conversation2023-04-18T20:02:44Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2023012023-04-18T20:02:44Z2023-04-18T20:02:44ZWhen kids like the box more than the toy: The benefits of playing with everyday objects<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521611/original/file-20230418-1223-8sess3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=658%2C77%2C3604%2C3037&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If children love boxes and other upcycled items, do parents really need to invest in 'eco toys'? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many have observed that sometimes when given a toy as a present, <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-why-young-children-often-prefer-wrapping-paper-and-boxes-to-actual-presents-70671">children play with the box the toy came in, or even the gift wrapping</a>.</p>
<p>In earlier generations, children’s play materials were often homemade or relatively simple. Commercial or hand-made toys were made from durable and long-lasting materials. </p>
<p>Today, mass-produced plastic toys with <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ueQUEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA25&dq=Sluss,+2021+play+materials&ots=uHtTVA0FaS&sig=3Tyyl726iZarZtpM0QqOe13hgjc#v=onepage&q=Sluss%2C%202021%20play%20materials&f=false">limited purpose have permanently entered children’s learning environments</a>. These toys are often designed to be used in specific ways, with limited imaginative play opportunities. </p>
<p>A trend in <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1120194.pdf">the marketing of</a> sustainable toys coincides both with addressing ecological concerns, and with educational interest in play materials that <a href="https://fairydustteaching.com/2016/10/loose-parts">allow children to play</a> in many ways.</p>
<p>A type of play known by researchers and educators as “loose parts play” <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1225658.pdf">involves children</a> playing with and re-purposing materials that <a href="https://www.inspiringscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Loose-Parts-Play-Toolkit-2019-web.pdf">can be used in multiple ways</a>. This can include playing with everyday, natural or manufactured parts (like cardboard, sticks, pots and pans, sand or beads not originally intended for play) or with commercial toys like blocks or stackable cups.</p>
<p>The language of <a href="https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/SDEC/article/view/1204/1171">loose parts</a> to talk about the use of unrestricted items in children’s play was first used by architect Simon Nicholson in the 70s, who discussed a “theory of loose parts” when writing about playground and educational design.</p>
<p>My research with colleagues is examining which materials — including store-bought and natural or upcycled items — are most conducive to specific types of quality play in young children’s environments. </p>
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<img alt="A toddler seen playing with blocks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521368/original/file-20230417-24-awxrlw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Through play, children make connections and integrate their experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>What is play?</h2>
<p>Play is often defined as an activity pursued <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2004-21781-011">for its own sake and characterized largely by its processes rather than end goals</a>. Although the exact definition of play is debated, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9680672/">researchers agree it is exceptionally complex</a>.</p>
<p>Play has also been described as an integrating process, <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/school-readiness/according-experts/role-schools-and-communities-childrens-school-transition">providing an ecosystem where children can make connections between previous experiences</a>, represent their ideas in different ways, imagine possibilities, explore and create new meanings. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mathematical-thinking-begins-in-the-early-years-with-dialogue-and-real-world-exploration-128282">Mathematical thinking begins in the early years with dialogue and real-world exploration</a>
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<p>Such complexity can be seen in children’s play themes, materials, content, social interactions, and the understandings children demonstrate in their play. </p>
<p>The more complex the play, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/IYC.0b013e31821e995c">more it impacts development</a>. Even a small dose of quality <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195395761.013.0011">play improves children’s performance on subsequent cognitive development tasks</a>. </p>
<h2>Complex play, skills and benefits</h2>
<p>The skills acquired in play — including overcoming impulses, behaviour control, exploration and discovery, problem-solving, social interaction, and attention to process and outcomes — are foundational <a href="http://www.tojet.net/articles/v18i4/1841.pdf">cognitive structures that also drive learning</a>.</p>
<p>Children’s play themes generally follow the <a href="https://www.exchangepress.com/catalog/product/bridging-research-and-practice-seven-loose-parts-myths-busted/5025634/">ideas inherent in the materials and toys available</a>. </p>
<p>However, as noted, materials and toys used for children’s play <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190319182447id_/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82151298.pdf">have changed significantly over the years</a>, reflecting societal changes, technological advancements and shifts in understanding child development. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/acAv1C4LYVQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How to use stacking cups for speech and language development.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Early learning and child-care communities today widely incorporate loose parts for their perceived potential to offer high-quality play opportunities. Such opportunities allow children to use their <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-13642-018">imaginations and explore their surroundings</a> and support children’s cognitive development. </p>
<h2>Education in Canada</h2>
<p>In Canada, Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia’s education guidelines for early childhood explicitly discuss the importance of loose parts play. The Nova Scotia Curriculum, for instance, acknowledges that the use of loose parts encourages “<a href="https://www.ednet.ns.ca/docs/nselcurriculumframework.pdf">creativity and open-ended learning</a>.” </p>
<p>Six other provincial frameworks don’t use the words “loose parts,” but equally stress the importance of this kind of play. While many parents, educators and policy-makers recognize the benefits of involving children in play with loose parts, the basic evidence regarding children’s indoor play with loose materials is unknown. </p>
<p>There are only a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-017-9220-9">handful of empirical studies on indoor loose parts play with limited focus on its developmental benefits</a> beyond children’s physical and social development. Research has narrowly focused on children’s outdoor play with loose parts and mostly on <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v42i4.18103">physical</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12025">social development</a>. </p>
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<img alt="Children seen with sand and toys." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521367/original/file-20230417-26-drtsuh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">What is the relationship between children’s indoor play with loose parts and children’s cognitive skills?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Current research has not examined children’s indoor play with loose parts and its relationship to children’s cognitive skills. As a result, educators and policy-makers have little empirical evidence on which to base important decisions about what materials to invest in and integrate into children’s learning environments.</p>
<h2>Equitable play opportunities</h2>
<p>Children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds start kindergarten disproportionately behind their more affluent and privileged peers in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.1.116">knowledge and educational performance</a>. </p>
<p>Low-income families <a href="https://www.museumofplay.org/app/uploads/2022/01/5-2-article-the-use-of-play-materials-in-early-intervention_0.pdf">often cannot afford toys</a> for children. Could household objects (like plastic tubs or egg cartons) offer equitable play opportunities for all children, if early childhood programs and professionals supported parents with up-cycling items into play things? </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-spotlights-equity-and-access-issues-with-childrens-right-to-play-137187">Coronavirus spotlights equity and access issues with children's right to play</a>
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<p>My colleagues and I are conducting research to address gaps in our understanding of children’s loose parts play. Specifically, we examine the play types and play engagement levels of children between the ages of four and five who participate in our study. </p>
<p>We also take into account the effects of children’s cognitive development, parental income and education on how young children play with everyday objects, both when they play by themselves and with their parents. </p>
<p>We just finished collecting data in the first phase of our studies focused on children’s solitary play. Children were given opportunities to play with either a box of carefully curated loose parts like blocks, felt balls, yarn, pinecones or a toy that had only a limited function: percussion instruments.</p>
<h2>Cognitive and language development</h2>
<p>We collected data using video recordings of children’s play in two sessions (one with loose parts and the other session with the limited-purpose toy as a control), parent questionnaires and a cognitive measurement tool for benchmarking children’s cognitive and language development. </p>
<p>We are now analyzing crucial relationships between children’s play with different loose objects and children’s cognitive development, and considering key social determinants such as gender, socioeconomic status and maternal education. </p>
<p>Such knowledge will support educators and parents with an understanding of which materials are most conducive to specific types of quality play in young children’s environments.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ozlem Cankaya is affiliated with Terra Centre and Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Child Care. MacEwan University funds Dr. Cankaya's loose parts play research. </span></em></p>How should we understand what toys or ‘loose part’ materials support children’s play, and what’s the relationship of parents’ education and income to this? A study aims to find out.Ozlem Cankaya, Assistant Professor, Early Childhood Curriculum Studies, MacEwan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2023132023-04-17T18:58:38Z2023-04-17T18:58:38ZHow Two-Eyed Seeing, ‘Etuaptmumk,’ is changing outdoor play in early childhood education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516866/original/file-20230322-18-ptbyr3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=66%2C107%2C1837%2C987&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When we walk together in a good way, we learn to see the world from multiple perspectives. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Walking Together/Emily Kewageshig/Annick Press)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A knowledge and research collective at Humber College has been working to create, teach and evaluate a new course in the early childhood education program, <a href="https://humber.ca/today/news/instead-taking-notes-students-new-humber-college-class-focus-feel-and-connection">Two-Eyed Land-Based Play and Co-Learning</a>.</p>
<p><em>Etuaptmumk</em> (eh-doo-ahp-duh-mumk) or <a href="http://www.integrativescience.ca/">Two-Eyed Seeing</a> is the gift of multiple perspectives in the <a href="https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20220407003">Mi’kmaw language</a>. </p>
<p>We are Louise Zimanyi, professor and researcher of French-Canadian and Hungarian descent living as a guest in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voXySM-knRc">Tkaronto/Toronto</a>, Ont., <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/toronto-purchase-treaty-13">Treaty 13 territory</a>, and Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall, Moose Clan from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfDtxhsS31A">Eskasoni, Unama’ki</a>/Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the territory of the Mi'kma'ki. </p>
<p>We are part of the Two-Eyed Land-Based Play and Co-Learning Knowledge and Research Collective and have been co-learning together since <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJcjf1nUckc2020">meeting in early 2020</a>. Co-learning means enhancing each other’s understandings and perspectives, by sharing your gifts through relationships and the exchange of stories.</p>
<p>Two-Eyed Seeing inspired the reimagining of Humber’s nature program for young children, and is the focus of Louise’s doctoral work. Exploring <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArYbcbl6Vr4">children’s outdoor play through Two-Eyed Seeing</a> led to
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/topics/decolonizing-education-95431">rethinking post-secondary</a> training for early childhood educators through this unique and timely course. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/wonder-and-wisdom-in-a-childrens-forest-nature-program-106692">Wonder and wisdom in a children's forest nature program</a>
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<p>With support from the <a href="https://lawson.ca/our-work/outdoor-play/second-phase">Lawson Foundation</a>, we are contributing to advancing outdoor play practice and research in early learning and child care in Canada.</p>
<h2>Exchange of stories</h2>
<p>Two-Eyed Seeing research embraces both Indigenous and non-Indigenous research methods. It emphasizes “the exchange of stories, the foundation of any and all relationships,” in the words of Elder Marshall. How does Two-Eyed Seeing inform an early childhood program? A key approach and practice we have explored is “walking together.”</p>
<p>This is also the title of a new <a href="https://www.annickpress.com/Books/W/Walking-Together">children’s picture book we have written</a>, illustrated by Anishinaabe artist <a href="https://www.emily-kewageshig.com/">Emily Kewageshig</a>. The book is a result of developing meaningful and lasting relationships through sharing stories and the desire to create resources for children, families and educators. </p>
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<img alt="Cover image of a book showing people in silhouette standing on the back of a turtle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520374/original/file-20230411-24-8pg16g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520374/original/file-20230411-24-8pg16g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520374/original/file-20230411-24-8pg16g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520374/original/file-20230411-24-8pg16g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520374/original/file-20230411-24-8pg16g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520374/original/file-20230411-24-8pg16g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520374/original/file-20230411-24-8pg16g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The book ‘Walking Together’ follows a group of young children connecting to Land as their teacher throughout the seasons.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Walking Together/Marshall, Zimanyi, Kewageshig)</span></span>
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<p><em>Walking Together</em> offers guidance on nurturing respectful and reciprocal relationships. We learn the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/indigenous-languages.html">languages of the Land</a>: the Land takes care of us when we take care of her.</p>
<p>Through reconnecting to and with the Land, <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/the-best-of-both-worlds/">Two-Eyed Seeing</a> is about learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing and from the other eye with the strengths of non-Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing. Learning to use both eyes together for the <a href="https://lnuey.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/CONCEPTS-FactSheet_2021.pdf">benefit of all</a> prioritizes our eco-kin, and restores balance between natural and human worlds.</p>
<h2>Co-learning with the Land</h2>
<p>The course at Humber is located on and shaped by the <a href="https://humber.ca/indigenous/landacknowledgement">traditional and treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit</a> and Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty who co-teach the course. The course is supported by local and regional Indigenous Elders, Knowledge Holders, mentors and storytellers.</p>
<p>All who participate in the course co-learn together as they connect or reconnect to and with <a href="https://humber.ca/arboretum/explore/ecosystems.html">nature’s ecosystems</a> through Land-based experiences, storytelling, inter-generational teachings and reflection in all seasons and weather.</p>
<p>Two-Eyed Seeing and walking together is inspired by the wisdom of the late Mi’kmaw Spiritual Leader and Healer Chief, Charles Labrador, of Acadia First Nation, Nova Scotia, who said:</p>
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<p>“Go into the forest, you see the Birch, Maple, Pine. Look underground and all those <a href="http://www.integrativescience.ca/Principles/TreesHoldingHands/">trees are holding hands</a>. We as people must do the same.”</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519913/original/file-20230406-16-vhpbpl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustration shows children standing in a forest holding hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519913/original/file-20230406-16-vhpbpl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519913/original/file-20230406-16-vhpbpl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519913/original/file-20230406-16-vhpbpl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519913/original/file-20230406-16-vhpbpl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519913/original/file-20230406-16-vhpbpl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519913/original/file-20230406-16-vhpbpl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519913/original/file-20230406-16-vhpbpl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">When we walk on the Land in a good way, we are all connected.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Walking Together/Marshall, Zimanyi, Kewageshig)</span></span>
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<h2>Transforming early childhood education</h2>
<p>In early childhood education, walking together builds on the <a href="https://jipe.ca/index.php/jipe/article/view/130/59">benefits of outdoor and nature-based play</a> that <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play#">supports children’s emotional, intellectual and physical development</a> through exploration and inquiry. </p>
<p>Walking together engages spirit, heart, mind and body together. </p>
<p>When we walk together in a good way, Frog, Stick, Water and Rock are our teachers. We learn about their gifts through our two eyes. Across <a href="https://www.annickpress.com/Books/T/Turtle-Island">Turtle Island</a>, the stories of animal and plants will be different depending on what <a href="https://native-land.ca/">Indigenous Lands</a> one is on. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519914/original/file-20230406-694-jbn5ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Image of woman with long braided hair that travels across space and touches a frog." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519914/original/file-20230406-694-jbn5ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519914/original/file-20230406-694-jbn5ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519914/original/file-20230406-694-jbn5ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519914/original/file-20230406-694-jbn5ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519914/original/file-20230406-694-jbn5ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519914/original/file-20230406-694-jbn5ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519914/original/file-20230406-694-jbn5ex.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We all have collective responsibilities to protect the Earth as good ancestors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Walking Together / Marshall, Zimanyi, Kewageshig)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In understanding that <a href="http://www.harmonywithnatureun.org/">nature has rights</a>, and we all have collective responsibilities to protect the Earth as good ancestors, the practice of walking together demonstrates that <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/aeceo/pages/2524/attachments/original/1595879343/eceLINK_Summer_2020_i_speak_frog.pdf?1595879343">different ways of knowing</a> can co-exist together peacefully. </p>
<p><a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2021/03/17/creating-ethical-spaces-opportunities-to-connect-with-land-for-life-and-learning-in-the-nwt/">Co-learning relationships</a> are essential to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2043610617703833">rethinking</a> and <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/indigenizing-outdoor-play">transforming early childhood education practice</a> in response to the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/beyond-94-truth-and-reconciliation-1.4574765">Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action</a> and <a href="https://www.indigenouswatchdog.org/cta/call-to-action-12/">Call to Action No. 12</a>. </p>
<h2>Seeing from another’s perspective</h2>
<p>Two-Eyed Seeing helps us to know the environment through human eyes while also seeing things from another’s perspective. With this braided knowledge, we are enriched and transformed. </p>
<p>We then bear a responsibility to share what we learn and act for the <a href="https://climateatlas.ca/indigenous/first-nations">benefit of all</a>, now and for seven generations ahead.</p>
<h2>Responsibilities to all beings</h2>
<p>The first phase of the <a href="https://humber.ca/today/news/humber-professor-and-mi-kmaw-elder-co-author-new-children-s-book">research at Humber</a> has been supported by a faculty team, <a href="http://www.indigagogy.com/">Maamaawisiiwin Education Research Centre</a> and <a href="https://humber.ca/research/sotl">Humber’s Office of Research and Innovation, Scholarly Teaching and Learning</a>.</p>
<p>Initial findings demonstrate that <a href="https://humber.ca/indigenous/indigenous-education-plan">co-teaching and co-learning engages spirit, heart, mind and body for all learners</a>. </p>
<p>As storytellers, <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/dont-just-publish-another-paper-lets-do-something-says-scholar-advocate-cindy-blackstock/">advocates</a>, writers and artists, we are using our gifts to enact our own and collective responsibilities to all beings. </p>
<p>Like the flossy milkweed flower seeds that are carried on autumn winds for future generations of <a href="https://wwf.ca/species/monarch-butterfly/">monarch butterflies</a>, these seeds of knowledge can guide, regenerate and transform early childhood education practice for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop15s-global-biodiversity-framework-must-advance-indigenous-led-conservation-to-halt-biodiversity-loss-by-2030-195188">benefit of all</a>. This is an approach that has global relevance for protecting <a href="https://theconversation.com/weaving-indigenous-and-western-ways-of-knowing-can-help-canada-achieve-its-biodiversity-goals-201063">biodiversity</a>, climate action and resilience.</p>
<p>When we walk together in a good way, we learn to know the world through two eyes.</p>
<p><em>Wela'lioq</em>, Thank you.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202313/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Etuaptmumk’ or Two-Eyed Seeing is the gift of multiple perspectives in the Mi’kmaw language. A key practice of this in an early childhood outdoor program is walking together and sharing stories.Louise Zimanyi, PhD Candidate, Social Sciences, Royal Roads UniversityAlbert D. Marshall, Elder and research partnerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1700052021-11-02T20:32:04Z2021-11-02T20:32:04Z‘Playground politics’ are anything but: For health’s sake, Ontario students need better schoolyards<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429750/original/file-20211102-5521-1i37ydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C2995%2C1302&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Unstructured outdoor play is an important part of a healthy childhood, but Ontario schoolyards are falling short.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Public health research shows a strong connection between <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/">outdoor play</a>, schoolyard quality and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/osp4.389">students’ health</a> — including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14733280903024423">physical activity</a>. But how are Ontario’s schoolyards doing?</p>
<p>We worked in partnership with <a href="https://www.ophea.net/">Ophea, a charity that</a> supports physical and health education and advocates for healthy schools, to find out. <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/04/18/do-ontario-schoolyards-make-the-grade.html">We recruited</a> students, parents and educators to take a close look at their own schoolyards as “citizen scientists” — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2009.59.11.9">members of the public who collect data</a> as part of a public-interest research project. </p>
<p>To analyze schoolyards, we adapted a tool previously developed for this purpose. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2010.04.002">This tool</a> was based on evidence showing a relationship between schoolyard quality and physical activity. We used it to assess approximately five per cent of Ontario’s 5,000 schools. We audited 232 schools that were broadly representative of the distribution of average family incomes, public, Catholic and French school systems, and elementary and secondary schools.</p>
<p>Our results, relayed in our report, <em><a href="https://www.ophea.net/sites/default/files/pdfs/advocacy/adv_schoolyardscountreport_en.pdf">Schoolyards Count: How Ontario’s schoolyards measure up for health, physical activity and environmental learning</a></em>, show that Ontario schoolyards fall far short of “good enough.”</p>
<h2>Connection between outdoor play and health</h2>
<p>Other research points to the connection between students’ access to “everyday nature” in terms of both <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.24.2.0010">environmental attitudes and knowledge</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.11.001">their well-being</a>. </p>
<p>The physical environment is not a silver bullet: Teaching, relationships and facilitation all make a difference. But physical environments are a key component of <a href="https://www.euro.who.int/en/data-and-evidence/evidence-informed-policy-making/publications/pre2009/what-is-the-evidence-on-school-health-promotion-in-improving-health-or-preventing-disease-and,-specifically,-what-is-the-effectiveness-of-the-health-promoting-schools-approach">health-promoting schools</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.33524/cjar.v14i2.82">good-quality recess</a> and physical education experiences.</p>
<h2>Many schools missing key elements</h2>
<p>We know that unstructured outdoor play <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2058">enhances cognitive function</a>, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2016009/article/14652-eng.htm">promotes psychosocial development</a> and is an <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120606475">important component</a> of a healthy childhood. Our auditors assessed a quarter of schoolyards as “unsuitable” for play or games, and one in five as “unsuitable” for sports — a worrying finding. </p>
<p>Our research found that 73 per cent of audited schoolyards have an overall schoolyard quality score that is less than half of the optimal score of 88. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428891/original/file-20211027-25-b8e37l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Histogram showing the distirbution of Schoolyard Quality Scores across our sample with bar graphs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428891/original/file-20211027-25-b8e37l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428891/original/file-20211027-25-b8e37l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428891/original/file-20211027-25-b8e37l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428891/original/file-20211027-25-b8e37l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428891/original/file-20211027-25-b8e37l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428891/original/file-20211027-25-b8e37l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428891/original/file-20211027-25-b8e37l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There was an enormous variation in schoolyard scores. ‘Frequency’ shows the number of audits and the scores they captured. 73 per cent of schoolyards had an overall score that is less than half of the optimal score. Blue dashed line shows the mean at a score of 35.3, and the yellow line shows the mid-point of the scale at a score of 40.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Christine Corso)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Based on our audits, we found: </p>
<ul>
<li> 10 per cent of the schools have no fields;</li>
<li> 16 per cent have no courts for games like basketball;</li>
<li> 13 per cent of elementary schools have no play equipment (not even a simple monkey bars or tetherball post) and a quarter of schools don’t have multi-component structures (like a combined slide, bridge and climber); </li>
<li> 47 per cent of secondary schools have no track.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Outdoor spaces: An asset during the pandemic</h2>
<p>The pandemic has exacerbated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01744-3">psychological distress</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-00987-8">physical inactivity</a> in Canadian children and youth, <a href="https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-020-00412-4">particularly in Ontario</a>. Many recommend outdoor learning and outdoor play as a key feature in COVID-19 <a href="https://www.sickkids.ca/en/news/archive/2021/let-children-play">safety and recovery responses</a>. Being in nature (not just wilderness, but also green spaces) leads to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.24.2.0010">improvements in mental health</a> among children.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/6-actions-school-systems-can-take-to-support-childrens-outdoor-learning-167745">6 actions school systems can take to support children's outdoor learning</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For all too many Ontario schoolchildren, their main access to the outdoors at school is a paved, treeless expanse. In a third of schools, 50 per cent or more of the schoolyard surface is paved. Thirteen per cent of schools reported that they had no areas shaded by trees (only 20 per cent reported “lots” of shady areas). Paved treeless spaces are also a <a href="https://naturecanada.ca/news/blog/trees-help-fight-climate-change/">missed opportunity to mitigate climate change</a>.</p>
<p>In 2019, when we collected our data, only 37 per cent of schools had any sort of outdoor classroom. Other outdoor learning spaces were also limited — only 39 per cent of schools have themed gardens (like a garden for growing vegetables), and 56 per cent of schools have low-maintenance wildlife/biodiversity promoting areas (like a pollinator garden or a no-mow zone). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Illustration of a vibrant schoolyard, showing diverse students playing on a field, a play structure, and with a garden area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428889/original/file-20211027-25172-1xewxs5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428889/original/file-20211027-25172-1xewxs5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428889/original/file-20211027-25172-1xewxs5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428889/original/file-20211027-25172-1xewxs5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428889/original/file-20211027-25172-1xewxs5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428889/original/file-20211027-25172-1xewxs5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428889/original/file-20211027-25172-1xewxs5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being in green spaces matters to children’s health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Flavia Lopez/Studio Blackwell)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Active transportation</h2>
<p>One of the most important ways the built environment of a schoolyard and school community can contribute to student physical activity is by making it easy for students to walk or bike to school. </p>
<p>Instead, students face fast roads (37 per cent of schools have at least one adjacent road with a speed limit above 40 kilometres per hour), and limited traffic calming. Sixty-seven per cent of schools didn’t have anything like speed bumps or islands to slow down cars, and more than a third of schools didn’t have marked crossings.</p>
<p>Cycling provision is even poorer. Only 21 per cent of schools can be reached on a marked bike lane, and a third of schools don’t even have bike racks.</p>
<h2>Unequal opportunities for well-being</h2>
<p>Just as worrying as poor overall quality is that students experience vastly different opportunities for well-being, depending on which school they attend. Overall schoolyard quality scores range from a mere 14 to a high of 61. This is despite a provincial funding formula which, at least in theory, provides comparable resources across the province.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fun-fair-and-all-school-fundraising-may-carry-hidden-costs-to-society-118883">The fun fair, and all school fundraising, may carry hidden costs to society</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/fund2012guideline.pdf">Largely unregulated</a> and <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/report/fundraising-and-fees-in-ontarios-schools/">increasingly unequal fundraising</a> may contribute to differences in quality between richer and poorer schools, especially in the absence of clearly articulated standards for quality.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428888/original/file-20211027-17-1lxu6h8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Scatterplot with schools' median income (in thousands) plotted on the x-axis against schools' Schoolyard Quality Scores; line is fitted to data with positive slope" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428888/original/file-20211027-17-1lxu6h8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428888/original/file-20211027-17-1lxu6h8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428888/original/file-20211027-17-1lxu6h8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428888/original/file-20211027-17-1lxu6h8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428888/original/file-20211027-17-1lxu6h8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428888/original/file-20211027-17-1lxu6h8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428888/original/file-20211027-17-1lxu6h8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blue dashed line shows family median income in each school (in thousands) and schoolyard quality score.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christine Corso</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is a small but statistically significant association between family income and schoolyard quality. On average, a school with an average median family income of $40,000 is predicted to score 9.9 points (one standard deviation) lower than a school with an average median family income of $175,000.</p>
<h2>Minimum standards needed</h2>
<p>Engaging members of the public to work on projects related to our children’s health offers the opportunity to make systematic data personal. The picture we produced shows unequal and under-utilized opportunities to promote play and well-being at school.</p>
<p>We hope school communities can use this systematic picture to advocate locally for what they need in their schoolyards — from bike access and slower roads, to tree planting, more environmental learning opportunities or greater accessibility. </p>
<p>As citizens, all of us need to insist that policy ensures there are no schoolyards in our province that lack basic provisions for play such as play structures, basketball courts and supervised access to fields at recess.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly Gallagher-Mackay received funding for this research from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The work was conducted in partnership with Ophea, Ontario's Healthy School Organization.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Corso receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Problems include no fields, no courts for games, no playgrounds, no bike racks and no traffic-calming surrounding the school. Bringing in minimum standards is important.Kelly Gallagher-Mackay, Assistant Professor of Law and Society, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityChristine Corso, PhD Candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1696052021-10-31T11:56:41Z2021-10-31T11:56:41ZOutdoor play in Canada should continue beyond the COVID-19 pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427879/original/file-20211021-27-ijtb1j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=73%2C5%2C1530%2C1159&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kids tobogganing at Carlington Park in Ottawa during the Family Day long weekend 2021. The pandemic has presented significant new opportunities to move society in a direction that increases outdoor active play for children. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick </span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/outdoor-play-in-canada-should-continue-beyond-the-covid-19-pandemic" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>An important incidental change that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic has been our collective rediscovery of the outdoors. As we begin building back better, we have an opportunity to leverage this re-engagement to enhance our connection with the outdoors and improve child health and development. </p>
<p>As a postdoctoral fellow working in child and youth mental health promotion and a research manager for <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/">Outdoor Play Canada</a>, we are examining new ways to increase young people’s access to the outdoors to promote their social, emotional, mental and physical health. </p>
<p>The pandemic highlighted major <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.healthplace.2020.102418">inequities in access to natural spaces</a> across Canadian communities, but it has also presented a significant opportunity to support <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1795386">social justice and equity</a> by reconsidering policies governing the use of urban outdoor spaces like residential streets. This approach, along with other strategies, can move society in a direction that increases outdoor active play for children for their recovery from the current pandemic, and for their long-term health and well-being. The <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/outdoor-play-in-canada-2021-state-of-the-sector-report/"><em>Outdoor Play in Canada: 2021 State of the Sector Report</em></a> can help to guide these efforts.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427889/original/file-20211021-14-xozwum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Girl standing in a pile of leaves holding a toy rake" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427889/original/file-20211021-14-xozwum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427889/original/file-20211021-14-xozwum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427889/original/file-20211021-14-xozwum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427889/original/file-20211021-14-xozwum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427889/original/file-20211021-14-xozwum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427889/original/file-20211021-14-xozwum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427889/original/file-20211021-14-xozwum.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A silver lining of the pandemic was people’s rediscovery of the outdoors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Joseph Gonzalez)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120606475">Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play</a> was released in 2015 to encourage Canadian families, schools and services to increase children’s time spent outdoors and in active play for their health and development. The statement was developed through a process of extensive engagement with researchers, practitioners and policymakers as well as two systematic reviews. It was pivotal in generating momentum for investment and policy reform to support children’s engagement in outdoor active play.</p>
<p>Six years later, the <em>2021 State of the Sector Report</em> captures developments in the field of outdoor play since the release of the position statement and provides direction on future priorities for the field. <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/OPC_SSR_summary.pdf">These include</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>Promoting the health, well-being and developmental benefits of outdoor play.</li>
<li>Promoting, protecting, preserving and investing in outdoor play environments.</li>
<li>Advocating for equity, diversity and inclusion in outdoor play. </li>
<li>Ensuring that outdoor play initiatives are land-based and represent the diverse cultures, languages and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples of North America.</li>
<li>Researching and supporting data collection on outdoor play.</li>
<li>Reframing views on safety and outdoor play.</li>
<li>Increasing and improving professional development opportunities in outdoor play.</li>
<li>Expanding and enabling cross-sectoral connections and collaborations.</li>
<li>Leveraging engagement opportunities with the outdoors during and after COVID-19.</li>
</ul>
<h2>A renaissance of outdoor living</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427882/original/file-20211021-27-d22z76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People walk and skate on a thawing lake in a park on a mild winter day in Montréal" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427882/original/file-20211021-27-d22z76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427882/original/file-20211021-27-d22z76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427882/original/file-20211021-27-d22z76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427882/original/file-20211021-27-d22z76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427882/original/file-20211021-27-d22z76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427882/original/file-20211021-27-d22z76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427882/original/file-20211021-27-d22z76.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">During the pandemic, people rediscovered the joy of walking and got re-acquainted with winter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although physical distancing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic initially led to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-00987-8">reductions in children’s outdoor physical activity</a>, over the past year and a half, the pandemic has ushered in a renaissance of outdoor living. Last year, many people rediscovered the joys of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/dec/18/how-2020-became-the-year-of-the-walker">walking</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bicycle-boom-industry-turmoil-covid-19-1.5956400">cycling</a> and got reacquainted with winter. Perfect snow conditions set the stage for community members to cover <a href="https://ctvottawa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=212f27210d1d474c8358ee36b2d08350">Ottawa with snow sculptures</a>, and in the Prairies, children conquered <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/dirty-snow-piles-huck-1.5868627">parking lot snow-piles</a>. </p>
<p>Schools found adaptive ways to <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/2021/07/15/beyond-the-classroom-in-a-covid-year/">move learning outdoors</a> and campsite reservations <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-booking-a-camping-spot-in-ontario-has-become-an-impossible-task-due-to/">increased dramatically across Ontario</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-parks-campground-reservations-opening-day-1.5975797">Manitoba</a>, <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/booking-a-camping-spot-takes-hours-on-parks-canada-site-amid-soaring-demand">Alberta</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/summer-camping-reservations-bc-website-crash-1.5940879">British Columbia</a>. Experts highlighted the potential for a resurgence of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/covid-19-cheo-child-psychiatrist-welcomes-free-range-summer-with-caveats-1.5588752">free-range childhood experiences</a> and work-from-home conditions set the stage for children to engage in <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094481">increased independent mobility and unstructured play</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427885/original/file-20211021-23-1gosehr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Girl in a face mask on a swing in the foreground with a boy on a swing in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427885/original/file-20211021-23-1gosehr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427885/original/file-20211021-23-1gosehr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427885/original/file-20211021-23-1gosehr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427885/original/file-20211021-23-1gosehr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427885/original/file-20211021-23-1gosehr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427885/original/file-20211021-23-1gosehr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427885/original/file-20211021-23-1gosehr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Outdoor play supports the health and development of children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research from Canada and around the world has reported that <a href="https://www.sonnet.ca/blog/lifestyle/health/how-canadians-are-coping-covid-19">people value</a> and have spent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244873">more time outdoors</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2021.672909">more time in green spaces</a> during the pandemic. In Norway, research found that these changes in behaviour were measurable up to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104175">six months later</a>. </p>
<p>The pandemic has also heightened awareness of the need for important family supports as we saw a significant increase in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1776561">care burden on women</a>. Correspondingly, we are seeing policy reforms that can enhance support for families and child development, including increased <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/shopify-pandemic-staff-ottawa-1.5578614">flexibility in workplace policies</a>, enhanced <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2021/04/21/10-day-child-care-canadian-families">investments in daycare</a> (and the ability to <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/2020/11/20/child-care-and-early-years-act-forest-and-outdoor-programs-submission-2020/">license forest and outdoor daycare</a> programs), and provincial programs for <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-paid-sick-leave-covid-19-april-28-2021-1.6005192">paid sick leave</a>. In Scandinavia, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20171211-friluftsliv-the-nordic-concept-of-getting-outdoors">flexible workplace hours and incentives to spend time outdoors</a> are already common practice and designed to enhance <em>friluftsliv</em>, or open-air living. </p>
<p>These new and ongoing supports can promote well-being for families and increase opportunities for quality time spent outdoors. In the <em>State of the Sector Report</em>, we highlight the importance of making outdoor play a core health promotion recovery strategy. This can be achieved by appropriating streets for active travel as well as for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1795386">social connection and play</a>. </p>
<p>During the pandemic, we saw municipalities apply street closures to create <a href="https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ncc-expanding-parkway-closures-for-cyclists-runners-and-walkers-this-summer-1.5408762">space for active leisure</a> as well as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/gatineau-street-hockey-expansion-1.6170549">for sport</a>; these efforts should be continued. Creating outdoor opportunities for communities to gather not only increases the potential for outdoor activity, it can also <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2021.634145">strengthen community connections</a> and make <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-021-01097-9">neighbourhoods safer</a>. As we state in our report, we need to identify champions, including at the community level, to help these outdoor play initiatives live on. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427877/original/file-20211021-17-tfq9jx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Cyclists on Lakeshore Blvd. with the downtown skyline in the background and a physical distancing sign in the foreground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427877/original/file-20211021-17-tfq9jx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427877/original/file-20211021-17-tfq9jx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427877/original/file-20211021-17-tfq9jx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427877/original/file-20211021-17-tfq9jx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427877/original/file-20211021-17-tfq9jx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427877/original/file-20211021-17-tfq9jx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427877/original/file-20211021-17-tfq9jx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cyclists take advantage of the ActiveTO closure of Lake Shore Blvd., in Toronto in June 2020. Toronto closed large sections of major roads to give people space to exercise while physically distancing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Promoting outdoor play is not only important for the health and well-being of children; it is necessary for the long-term health of the environment. Spending time in nature at an early age is important for the development of the next generation of environmental stewards that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2020.1787313">respect and protect the natural world</a>. </p>
<p>Maintaining some of these adaptations and policy reforms will have a significant impact on the environment. We need to advance the momentum for outdoor play to support the health and development of children and to ensure that they and generations to come have a healthy world to grow up in. Global lockdowns resulted in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18922-7">largest decrease in global carbon dioxide emissions since 1900</a>. </p>
<p>It took a pandemic for us to reign in our consumption behaviour. We now recognize that we have the potential for change. We must carry this forward <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3169">into the future</a> — for our children and for us all.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Louise de Lannoy, research manager at Outdoor Play Canada.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169605/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya Halsall receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research. Tanya Halsall is a member of Outdoor Play Canada.</span></em></p>The pandemic ushered in a renaissance of outdoor living. We need to advance the momentum for outdoor play to support the health and development of childrenTanya Halsall, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1661062021-09-22T19:56:03Z2021-09-22T19:56:03ZChildren learn science in nature play long before they get to school classrooms and labs<p>The number of preschools pursuing learning through nature play is growing fast worldwide. However, the effectiveness and impacts of this approach is largely untested, and we recently completed the first large-scale study in the world to explicitly research nature play in early childhood education. </p>
<p>By mapping the learning of scientific concepts in nature play in a range of early childhood settings, we demonstrated how young children engage with science long before they get to school classrooms and labs.</p>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.childhoodnatureplay.com/the-mudbook-nature-play-framework/">research shows nature play</a> is a highly effective way of embedding STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — in early childhood education. These areas share connections and practices, and <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/873954028?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true">research</a> increasingly shows that “regardless of ability, young children are ready, willing, and able to engage in STEM activities”. </p>
<h2>What exactly is nature play?</h2>
<p>Nature play is a popular way to respond to parent and teacher concerns about children’s limited time in nature and potentially too much screen time. It’s generally seen as unstructured play in natural settings, involving child-led interactions with nature. </p>
<p>Inspiration for nature play is often attributed to Scandinavian “<a href="https://www.growingwildforestschool.org/post/the-brief-history-heritage-of-forest-schools-around-the-world">forest school</a>” models. However, its origins run far deeper. Indigenous practices, for instance, notably understandings of Country and self as entangled, rather than separate, <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/the-sage-handbook-of-outdoor-play-and-learning/i2516.xml">support many of the key features of nature play</a>. </p>
<p>Early childhood education in some countries such as Germany, Finland and Denmark has a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/history-of-education-quarterly/article/abs/friedrich-froebel-a-selection-from-his-writings-by-irene-m-lilley-cambridge-cambridge-university-press-1967-180-viii-pp-475/381D5F9FDE73834FA6AE6F4F05227092">long tradition of nature play</a>. For instance, “kindergarten” means “children and garden” in German, showing kindergarten’s roots in nature-based learning.</p>
<h2>What was the research project?</h2>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.childhoodnatureplay.com/">research project</a> in urban and regional early childhood settings in Queensland uncovered a vast number of key concepts explored through nature play. Many were connected with Indigenous ways of knowing about the planet. Others were more aligned with environmental science or STEM concepts. </p>
<p>With funding from the Queensland government’s <a href="https://education.qld.gov.au/about-us/reporting-data-research/research/research-funding/education-horizon">Education Horizon</a> scheme, our team worked with 20 early childhood education centres. There were ten sites in South-East Queensland, nine in Central Queensland and one in far north-western Queensland. </p>
<p>The project design involved both children and early childhood educators as researchers — 31 educators and 152 children (aged four to five) in all. The children and the educators collected data to research their own nature play experiences and practices. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-worry-your-childs-early-learning-doesnt-stop-just-because-theyre-not-in-childcare-134668">Don’t worry, your child’s early learning doesn’t stop just because they’re not in childcare</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We explored children’s activities, ideas and beliefs about nature, and their relationships with/as nature. Understandings were diverse and ranged from seeing humans as separate from nature, to humans being part of nature — humans as nature. </p>
<p>The recently published <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339925347_Research_Handbook_on_Childhoodnature_Assemblages_of_Childhood_and_Nature_Research_Assemblages_of_Childhood_and_Nature_Research">Research Handbook of Childhoodnature</a> found centring childhood in nature, as childhoodnature — with humans being understood as part of nature — is a vital foundation for nature play. As one four year old said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When I’m outside I learn about nature. Nature is what we’re in now. The trees are nature. The sky is nature. The creek is nature. The ants are nature. We are nature too, because we look after nature – and not break it.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We found educators’ lack of confidence or understanding of science concepts need not limit exploration of STEM in early childhood education. Instead, participating educators reframed any limits to their knowledge as “<a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.680.1528&rep=rep1&type=pdf">an opportunity rather than an embarrassment</a>”. </p>
<p>The educators became active co-learners alongside children, rejecting the traditional perception of teachers as the source of all knowledge. To make the most of STEM opportunities in nature play, educators must understand their role as curious “<a href="https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/jul2016/beyond-bouncing-ball-toddlers-and-teachers-investigate-physics">scientists in action</a>”. They problem-solve, investigate and discover alongside children. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/let-them-play-kids-need-freedom-from-play-restrictions-to-develop-117586">Let them play! Kids need freedom from play restrictions to develop</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our research identified environmental science concepts as the area of scientific learning participants most often engaged with through nature play. This means environmental science, as a discipline of teaching and learning within STEM, has an important contribution to make to children’s scientific learning. </p>
<p>Like all STEM disciplines, environmental science emerges in the early years and will build in complexity throughout a child’s life. The educators in this study embraced nine distinct nature play practices and lessons:</p>
<ol>
<li>place/Country-responsive play — such as bushwalks and other excursions on Country and learning from and with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders</li>
<li>non-human play — deep observation of plants, clouds, natural objects and other species</li>
<li>slow play — giving children the time and freedom for sustained, unhurried, uninterrupted play, including child-directed free play and artmaking</li>
<li>sensorial play — stimulating children’s senses and an awareness of the body through noticing, paying attention, foraging, smelling, feeling, touching and deepening connection </li>
<li>risky play — climbing trees, hanging upside down, balancing, rope swings, navigating creeks, building campfires, using tools, wrestling and exploring without adult supervision<br></li>
<li>imaginative play — also known as make-believe play, fantasy play, symbolic play, pretend play and dramatic play. Children often role-play as a way of exploring and making sense of the world </li>
<li>construction/creative play — whittling, sawing wood, building tunnels and bridges, painting, drawing, dancing, singing, drumming, nature journaling, nature collage, weaving, felting, sculpting, and clay work</li>
<li> discovery play — using a digital microscope, experimenting with natural resources, exploring shadows and light, floating and sinking, and watching insect and animal behaviour, as a way to think deeply about the world and learn how it works</li>
<li>death play — observing dead animals decomposing over time, role-playing death/dying and learning about life cycles to explore death, dying or grief.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>The project uncovered a vast number of key scientific concepts and terms explored through nature play. These were organised under the key areas of earth, ecologies, relations, materials, bodies, time and weathering. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419626/original/file-20210906-17-1ulwifo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419626/original/file-20210906-17-1ulwifo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419626/original/file-20210906-17-1ulwifo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419626/original/file-20210906-17-1ulwifo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419626/original/file-20210906-17-1ulwifo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419626/original/file-20210906-17-1ulwifo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419626/original/file-20210906-17-1ulwifo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419626/original/file-20210906-17-1ulwifo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Common science concepts and terms identified within nature play.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is not a prescriptive list, nor are these the only scientific concepts nature play enables. Rather, they are starting points to activate discussion and help children learn. When STEM concepts are inspired by the children’s interests, curiosities and questions, learning is more powerful, engaging and enduring. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-i-let-my-kid-climb-trees-we-asked-five-experts-125871">Should I let my kid climb trees? We asked five experts</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166106/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles receives funding from the Queensland Government Department of Education Horizon funding scheme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Lasczik receives funding from the Queensland Government Department of Education Horizon funding scheme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Malone receives funding from Queensland Government under their HORIZON funding scheme. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Knight receives funding from Queensland Government Department of Education Horizon Scheme</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maia Osborn receives funding from receives funding from the Queensland Government Department of Education Horizon funding scheme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mahi Paquette does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research demonstrates the many aspects of nature play that make it a great way for young children to gain STEM knowledge.Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, Executive Dean, Faculty of Education, Southern Cross UniversityAlexandra Lasczik, Associate Professor, Arts & Education, Southern Cross UniversityKaren Malone, Professor, Environmental Sustainability and Childhood Studies, Swinburne University of TechnologyLinda Knight, Associate Professor, Early Childhood: Creative Practice and Digital Media, RMIT UniversityMahi Paquette, Research Associate, Faculty of Education, Southern Cross UniversityMaia Osborn, Research Fellow, Faculty of Education, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1642892021-08-04T12:53:19Z2021-08-04T12:53:19Z4 low-cost ways to create safe public spaces where all kids can play<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413797/original/file-20210729-19-otjtii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C4187%2C2791&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Play is especially important during the summer months, when kids tend to be less active.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/children-play-with-a-large-beach-ball-as-residents-news-photo/1015477748">Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Outdoor play is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2016.1251793">critical for child development</a> – it decreases stress, increases communication and social skills, attention and physical activity, and enhances physical development. </p>
<p>During COVID-19, opportunities for children to socially connect, reduce stress and play outside have been <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1186/s12966-020-00987-8">desperately needed</a> but also greatly limited. As understanding of COVID-19 expanded, outdoor spaces emerged as an <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/outdoor-activities.html">ideal place</a> for activities to occur with limited risk.</p>
<p>Opportunities for children to play are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.105795">especially important during the summer months</a>, when young people tend to be less active, watch more screens and enjoy physical activity less. Studies show that <a href="https://paresearchcenter.org/are-adolescents-less-physically-active-in-the-summer/">American Indian, Asian American, Black and Latino</a> youth in particular reduce the amount of time they spend on physical activity in summer compared to the school year.</p>
<p>As professors of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Rj7Jpt8AAAAJ">public health</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=XR8oz0YAAAAJ">community health</a>, we examine how community collaborations can create opportunities for more play – and more equitable play – while also building neighborhood cohesion. Below we highlight four such opportunities.</p>
<h2>Shared-use agreements</h2>
<p>Shared-use agreements, also called joint-use and community-use agreements, are when public, private or nonprofit organizations allow community access to their facilities or physical spaces. For example, a school may let local residents use their playground, soccer field or running track when school is not in session. </p>
<p>Even in states like California, where state laws encourage civic use of public school facilities, many schools <a href="https://dhhr.wv.gov/hpcd/Documents/Joint-Use%20Agreements%20Schools.pdf">lock their grounds</a> and are inaccessible to community residents. <a href="https://www.tpl.org/media-room/opening-schoolyards-public-during-non-school-hours-could-alleviate-problem-park-access">A report</a> from the Trust for Public Land, a conservation nonprofit that advocates for public access to outdoor spaces, <a href="https://www.tpl.org/media-room/opening-schoolyards-public-during-non-school-hours-could-alleviate-problem-park-access">estimates that only 10%</a> of U.S. public schools give the general public formal access to schoolyard sites.</p>
<p>Shared-use agreements can provide a safe place for physical activity in any type of community – rural, suburban or urban. They are especially useful in low-income communities with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.05.017">fewer park spaces, less-safe parks and parks of lower quality</a>. Partners may include schools, faith institutions, businesses, libraries and hospitals that could have an outdoor playground, running track or other open spaces for physical activity.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.changelabsolutions.org/healthy-neighborhoods/shared-use">ChangeLab Solutions</a>, a health equity nonprofit, provides toolkits, examples and model agreements for people interested in providing safe places for play and physical activity in their community.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother and sun attend a StoryWalk in Philadelphia park" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414179/original/file-20210802-14-165xl74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414179/original/file-20210802-14-165xl74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414179/original/file-20210802-14-165xl74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414179/original/file-20210802-14-165xl74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414179/original/file-20210802-14-165xl74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414179/original/file-20210802-14-165xl74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414179/original/file-20210802-14-165xl74.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Lola Plants a Garden’ is featured at a StoryWalk in Harrowgate Park in North Philadelphia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://loveyourpark.org/blog/harrowgate-park-storywalk">Friends of Harrowgate Park</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>StoryWalks</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.kellogghubbard.org/storywalk">StoryWalks</a> are typically a collaboration between a local library and local park system in which a children’s book is reproduced on semi-permanent displays along a walking trail. Kids – and importantly their friends, family and caregivers – are invited to read the story along a journey of the park path. </p>
<p>Stories can be embellished with suggested activities such as “hop like Peter Rabbit” or “crawl like the Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Libraries and parks and recreation departments work together to identify culturally relevant and active books to install, and which parks to target. The partnership can bring reading and activities to underutilized and under-programmed parks. </p>
<p><a href="https://letsmovelibraries.org/storywalk/">Let’s Move in Libraries</a> and the American Library Association provide examples and suggestions to get started, <a href="https://programminglibrarian.org/articles/what%E2%80%99s-story-ideas-creative-storywalk-programming">including ways to creatively connect</a> <a href="https://www.childrenandnature.org/resources/thinking-outside-of-the-stacks-the-growth-of-nature-smart-libraries/">families, books and nature</a>. </p>
<h2>Play Streets</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.105869">Play Streets</a> typically close down a residential street, but can be located in any public space – like a parking lot, field, playground or park – where kids can safely play outside during a specified time, typically in the summer. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414415/original/file-20210803-13-1w5fxz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Child jumps over obstacle course in park" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414415/original/file-20210803-13-1w5fxz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414415/original/file-20210803-13-1w5fxz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414415/original/file-20210803-13-1w5fxz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414415/original/file-20210803-13-1w5fxz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414415/original/file-20210803-13-1w5fxz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414415/original/file-20210803-13-1w5fxz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414415/original/file-20210803-13-1w5fxz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children enjoy a Play Street in Bastrop, Louisiana in June 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">D. Jones Visuals</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Individuals or community groups can host them and partner with other organizations – such as the local health department, <a href="https://nifa.usda.gov/extension">county extension office</a>, library, faith institution, school or fire or police station. These partners can help supply additional volunteers and equipment like bouncy houses, hula hoops, jump ropes, sports equipment and potato sacks for races.</p>
<p>Play Streets are affordable to implement and require few resources. Children play in the various activity areas, sometimes with adult facilitation, but mostly through child-directed free play.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.baylor.edu/publichealth/ruralplaystreetsguide">Rural Play Streets Guide</a>, which one of us co-developed with <a href="https://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/1814/keshia-pollack-porter">Keshia Pollack Porter</a>, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, has a step-by-step guide to help anyone – whether rural, suburban or urban – plan Play Streets in their community.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A TRACK Trail display in a wooded area" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413807/original/file-20210729-23-9yc5v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413807/original/file-20210729-23-9yc5v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413807/original/file-20210729-23-9yc5v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413807/original/file-20210729-23-9yc5v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413807/original/file-20210729-23-9yc5v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413807/original/file-20210729-23-9yc5v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413807/original/file-20210729-23-9yc5v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mile-long TRACK Trail loop in North Carolina offers brochures with different activities to complete.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">J. Aaron Hipp</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>TRACK Trails</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.kidsinparks.com/about">TRACK Trails</a> are lightly guided adventures using signs and pamphlets posted around parks, lakes, trails or one’s own backyard. For instance, a local half-mile trail might encourage kids to complete multiple <a href="https://www.kidsinparks.com/animal-athletes?adventure=1700%7Cfield_e_brochure">animal exercises</a> during the walk, such as sprinting like a rabbit for 20 seconds or doing a series of long jumps like a grasshopper.</p>
<p>Kids and families can visit the TRACK Trails website to <a href="https://www.kidsinparks.com/find-an-adventure/map?keys=">find an adventure</a> or print seasonal activities to complete in their neighborhood. They can also log activities and be rewarded with prizes. Lower-resourced communities can get financial assistance to install trails or print brochures. Additional information <a href="https://www.kidsinparks.com/partners">can be found here</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164289/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>M. Renée Umstattd Meyer has received funding from the American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She is affiliated with Baylor University and serves on the Physical Activity Alliance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee and the Strategic Advisory Committee for Voices for Healthy Kids. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>J. Aaron Hipp receives funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Recreation and Parks Association, US Department of Agriculture, NC Division of Public Health, NC State Center for Human Health and the Environment, and KABOOM!. </span></em></p>Public and community health experts highlight four ways that communities can collaborate to encourage physical activity and fun.Renee Umstattd Meyer, Professor of Public Health, Baylor UniversityJ. Aaron Hipp, Associate Professor of Community Health and Sustainability, North Carolina State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1635502021-07-18T12:28:06Z2021-07-18T12:28:06ZWhy the outdoors should be an integral part of every early learning and child-care program<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410605/original/file-20210709-19-1emy3o7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=161%2C1041%2C5829%2C2928&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Beyond the many known benefits of outdoor education, COVID-19 has highlighted the outdoors as an environment which mitigates the risk of spreading airborne viruses. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Charles Parker)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bilateral negotiations are underway to move the historic <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2021/04/budget-2021-a-canada-wide-early-learning-and-child-care-plan.html">federal commitment to a Canada-wide early learning and child-care system</a> from vision to reality. Expanding access for all young children in Canada will require creating and licensing more physical spaces where children learn and are cared for. But what kinds of spaces will these be? </p>
<p>In the face of the growing body of research that reveals how outdoor early learning has significant <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/synthesis">developmental benefits for children</a>, early childhood educators across the country are reimagining early learning and care in the outdoors.</p>
<p>Governments need to take note of <a href="https://childnature.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Infographic-final-version.pdf">this burgeoning grassroots movement</a> because there are implications for capital infrastructure, regulations and early childhood educator training.</p>
<h2>Optimal conditions for learning</h2>
<p>In the outdoors children can <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/position-statement-on-active-outdoor-play">move freely, follow their interests, take risks and test their limits</a>. This translates into children who are happier, more active, curious, confident and collaborative. High-quality outdoor environments create <a href="https://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/young-childrens-outdoor-play-based-learning">optimal conditions for learning</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the <a href="https://www.lawson.ca/op-elcc-covid19.pdf">outdoors as a health-promoting environment that mitigates the risk of spreading airborne viruses</a> — something we can continue to benefit from in the future.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-obesity-to-allergies-outdoor-play-is-the-best-medicine-for-children-118031">From obesity to allergies, outdoor play is the best medicine for children</a>
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<p>My doctoral research is about the philosophy, practice and policy of outdoor early learning in Ontario. I have become convinced that high-quality outdoor learning should be a significant part of every early learning and child-care program. </p>
<p>Here’s what governments should be contemplating as we begin to build a Canada-wide system that embraces and enables outdoor learning.</p>
<h2>Infrastructure must include outdoor spaces</h2>
<p>When we think of capital infrastructure costs for early learning and care, we tend to think about buildings, but we need to think carefully about outdoor spaces and reframe them as outdoor learning environments. Regulations across <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5292-1">the country currently do not require more than seven sq. m per child of outdoor space</a>. That is just <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526402028">half the size of a parking space!</a></p>
<p>Fortunately <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/portfolio_page/seven-cs-an-informational-guide-to-young-childrens-outdoor-play-spaces">evidence-based design guidelines</a> already exist for planning high-quality outdoor learning environments. Criteria for early learning and care infrastructure funds to create new spaces should require high-quality outdoor learning environments as part of any new construction or renovation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A natural playground built of logs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410840/original/file-20210712-71119-vx17y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deciding how to invest in new infrastructure for early learning and care means considering how outdoor environments will be part of children’s learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Schools, local green spaces</h2>
<p>Of course, access to outdoor space is a challenge in many urban centres. However, accommodations can be made. </p>
<p>First, early childhood education programs can be delivered through schools, which tend to have outdoor space. This would maximize existing assets and benefit all children in a school. The Nova Scotia government has done so with its <a href="https://www.ednet.ns.ca/pre-primary">pre-primary program for four-year-olds</a>. The government recently announced <a href="https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20210413001">a new fund for outdoor learning environments</a> in partnership with the federal government. </p>
<p>Second, partnerships with municipalities and parks agencies can support access to local green spaces. Partnerships can help ensure access to infrastructure such as bathrooms and running water.</p>
<p>Investing in high-quality natural play spaces <a href="https://www.evergreen.ca/our-projects/school-board-collaborations-services/">in school yards</a> and local parks would also leverage benefits for everyone in the local community. This is especially important given that <a href="https://ccpr.parkpeople.ca/2020/themes/growth/stories/towards-equitable-parks">access to green space is not equitable in Canada</a>.</p>
<h2>Forest and nature schools</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young children in a colourful autumn leafy forest seen walking up a hill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=672&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410831/original/file-20210712-19-1u24d1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=844&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children seen at Cloudberry Forest School in St. John’s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cloudberry Forest School</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also need to enable early learning programs in which children spend the majority of their day outdoors, such as <a href="https://childnature.ca/about-forest-and-nature-school/">forest and nature schools</a>.</p>
<p>Currently government regulations for early learning and care in every jurisdiction require an indoor facility in order to obtain a licence to operate. However, such buildings are a poor and unnecessary use of money when programs plan to be mostly outside. Community buildings, cabins and shelters can provide sufficient protective space during inclement weather. </p>
<p>In the U.S., <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADEL/bulletins/2d8751e">Washington state recently licensed outdoor preschools</a>. <a href="https://dcyf.wa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/reports/OutdoorPreschoolPilotFinal2020.pdf">Pilot program budgets</a> demonstrated that outdoor programs require around <a href="https://doi.org/10.24926/ijps.v4i3.181">30 per cent less in operating funds than traditional early learning and care programs</a>. </p>
<p>In St. John’s, N.L., <a href="https://www.obrienfarm.ca/cloudberry-forest-school">Cloudberry Forest School</a> has just started a three-year pilot project <a href="https://gazette.mun.ca/public-engagement/educational-beacon/">to explore the licensing of outdoor early learning and care programs</a>. Other jurisdictions will soon be able to benefit from their learning.</p>
<h2>Educator training</h2>
<p>Quality in early learning and care <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/early-learning-child-care/reports/2019-defining-measuring-quality.html">is influenced by the educational attainment of the staff who work with children</a>. Currently, the majority of post-secondary early childhood education programs across the country <a href="https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/article/view/1653">do not explicitly prepare educators for outdoor teaching and learning</a>. However, this is changing rapidly.</p>
<p>There are new post-secondary transformations taking place in <a href="https://www.okanagan.bc.ca/news/from-colleges-to-communities-lawson-foundation-supports-early-childhood-education-project-at">Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick</a>. In Ontario, Humber College is embracing a “Two-Eyed Seeing” approach, <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-make-connections-to-aki-earth-through-anishinaabe-teachings-133669">whereby both Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives influence early land-based play and learning</a>. Their work is <a href="https://humber.ca/today/media-releases/humber-launch-land-based-play-and-co-learning-initiative">guided partly by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/children-make-connections-to-aki-earth-through-anishinaabe-teachings-133669">Children make connections to Aki (Earth) through Anishinaabe teachings</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Existing evidence-based <a href="https://outdoorplaytraining.com/about-the-project/">professional learning resources</a> and <a href="https://childnature.ca/forest-school-canada/">training programs</a> could be scaled and paired with apprenticeship approaches to educator training to help meet the urgent need for qualified educators.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Father and child fishing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=638&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410604/original/file-20210709-25-o5vtqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recruiting for outdoor programs may attract more males to work as early childhood educators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canada needs an additional <a href="https://centreforfuturework.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ELCC-Report-Formatted-FINAL-FINAL.pdf">20,000 staff each year to expand the early learning and care system, most of whom need to be educators who will work directly with children</a>. Outdoor early learning is a source of untapped potential for recruitment. </p>
<p>Passionate professionals in parks, conservation and outdoor education might reimagine their careers through early childhood education in outdoor learning environments if supported to make the transition. Recruiting for outdoor programs may also attract <a href="https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy-plan/2017/03/blueprint-2020-expansion-early-learning-childcare-scotland-2017-18-action/documents/00515637-pdf/00515637-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/00515637.pdf">more males to early childhood education</a>. The fact that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10409289.2020.1822079">educators report their own improved well-being and professional engagement outdoors</a> may help attract and retain more early childhood educators.</p>
<h2>Scotland as an international model</h2>
<p>Scotland recently expanded its early learning and care and <a href="https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy-plan/2017/03/blueprint-2020-expansion-early-learning-childcare-scotland-2017-18-action/documents/00515637-pdf/00515637-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/00515637.pdf">emphasized the importance of outdoor play and learning in its policy</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/scotlands-outdoor-play-initiative-has-some-lessons-for-the-rest-of-the-world-132429">A grassroots movement led by early adopters, and then supported by champions within government</a>, laid the groundwork. </p>
<p>The Scottish government also developed a robust set of <a href="https://www.careandlearningalliance.co.uk/care-inspectorate-hub-outdoor-learning-guidance-tools/">resources for educator training, play space design and implementation guidelines to support outdoor programming</a>. <a href="https://www.gov.scot/policies/early-education-and-care/outdoor-play-and-learning/">Government, local authorities and non-profits in Scotland worked together</a> to enable early learning and care programs to use local green spaces. This is a model Canada should pay attention to.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scotlands-outdoor-play-initiative-has-some-lessons-for-the-rest-of-the-world-132429">Scotland’s outdoor play initiative has some lessons for the rest of the world</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://ppforum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/FromInvestmentToAction-May2021.pdf">Public Policy Forum recently recommended</a> that the federal government invest in an infrastructure fund for early learning and care as well as the expansion of post-secondary programs for early childhood educators. As government and educational plans unfold, children should not have to depend on the goodwill of an educator to access high-quality outdoor learning; good policy and investment are the solution, and all levels of government have roles to play.</p>
<p>Building a new Canada-wide early learning and care system will be one of the most significant social investments in decades. With the goal of serving every young child in Canada, it is incumbent upon us to imagine and build a system that reflects children’s innate needs and desires to learn outdoors in order to enhance child-care quality as well as child and educator well-being.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Alden is affiliated with the Lawson Foundation, a funder of The Conversation Canada. </span></em></p>Planning outdoor early learning and child care has implications for training and recruiting educators as well as for planning, developing and funding physical spaces.Christine Alden, PhD Candidate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1629932021-06-29T20:38:55Z2021-06-29T20:38:55ZOutdoor play in shorter, more frequent windows can boost physical activity in early learning settings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408762/original/file-20210629-25-wc9oiv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=163%2C76%2C2371%2C1611&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A study of children playing outdoors in child care settings found they were most active within the first 10 minutes of outdoor play.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Physical activity is important <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4860-0">for early childhood development</a>. There’s a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F183693911203700111">preconceived notion that children are highly active while in childcare</a> when often, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110201794">they are not</a>. </p>
<p>The good news is that when children are outdoors at childcare, they engage in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2013-0137">10 times as much energetic play</a> (higher-intensity physical activity) compared to when they are indoors! With outdoor environments being preferred to indoor settings as we grapple with COVID-19, it is important to encourage outdoor play — now more than ever.</p>
<p>However, this is more easily said than done. Curriculum objectives in childcare programming focus on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13575279.2017.1299111">preparing children for school</a>, and while these objectives can be integrated with outdoor planning and play, how childcare providers do this varies.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-in-the-snow-how-children-develop-through-all-weather-outdoor-play-110736">Learning in the snow: How children develop through all-weather outdoor play</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>In Ontario, childcare centres are required to provide <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/pdfs/child-care-licensing-manual-en.pdf">120 minutes of daily outdoor play</a> when children are in child care for six hours or more in a day. In contrast, British Columbia requires that programs provide <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/child-day-care/active_play_june_2016.pdf">60 minutes of daily outdoor play</a>. Most provinces and territories <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5292-1">do not provide time requirements</a> for outdoor programming. </p>
<h2>Research about activity levels</h2>
<p>With colleagues, I researched how the frequency of outdoor play periods in childcare influenced children’s physical activity levels. We conducted a study in 22 childcare centres in London, Ontario; in half of the centres <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-017-0579-7">we shortened the duration of each outdoor play session, but doubled session frequency</a>. </p>
<p>We found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2020-0849">children were most active within the first 10 minutes</a> of outdoor play. In fact, 50 per cent of their first 10 minutes outdoors was spent engaging in higher-intensity physical activity, which then dropped to just 10 per cent during the remaining outdoor playtime! </p>
<p>Additionally, we found that restructuring outdoor play into shorter, more frequent bouts helped maximize children’s physical activity across total outdoor time, while also reducing the time children spent sitting, when compared to the traditional
outdoor play schedule.</p>
<h2>Adapting to weather</h2>
<p>Higher-intensity physical activity has numerous health benefits for young children, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2015.07.011">improved cognitive development</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/h2012-070">bone and skeletal health</a>. </p>
<p>Therefore, if we can maximize energetic play by simply restructuring outdoor play schedules, the benefits are definitely worth it. Breaking up outdoor play sessions can be helpful for early childhood educators who are already taxed with implementing a full curriculum, as they can dedicate the same total time to outdoor play, while maximizing its benefits for their children.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child's feet in a rainsuit and rainboots jump in a puddle." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408763/original/file-20210629-17-1pdsfmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408763/original/file-20210629-17-1pdsfmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408763/original/file-20210629-17-1pdsfmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408763/original/file-20210629-17-1pdsfmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408763/original/file-20210629-17-1pdsfmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408763/original/file-20210629-17-1pdsfmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408763/original/file-20210629-17-1pdsfmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More frequent outdoor play periods may allow educators to schedule days around excessive rain, snow or extreme heat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shorter, more frequent outdoor play periods can also help educators overcome <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09575141003667282">barriers such as weather</a> as such windows may lend themselves to more creative scheduling around excessive rain, snow or extreme heat. Typically, if it’s heavily raining for a couple of hours in the afternoon, it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2013-0266">common to cancel outdoor play</a> altogether. </p>
<p>However, scheduling 20-minute outdoor play periods on either end of the rain can help educators work around long periods of rain during their typically scheduled outdoor time. This would ensure children are receiving all of the important <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbj.2017.03.003">benefits of active outdoor play</a> on a daily basis (and not only when the weather allows — which is important given the varied weather experienced in Canada!).</p>
<h2>For children at home</h2>
<p>While these research findings may only be directly applicable to childcare settings (where <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210407/dq210407b-eng.htm">the majority of young children spend their weekday waking hours</a>), young children tend to be most active during the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.10.2.170">transition to outdoors</a>. The thrill and excitement that outdoor play provides, coupled with more space and looser rules around movement and noise levels, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2016.1251793">naturally encourages children to be more active</a>. </p>
<p>As such, if children are at home, it is quite likely that they could also benefit from shorter, more frequent outdoor play periods, which may be particularly helpful for parents if they notice their children are engaging in too much sedentary or screen time during the evening or weekend hours. </p>
<p>Breaking up sedentary and screen time with high intensity outdoor play, if only for 10 minutes, can help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2019.1685842">boost children’s health benefits</a>, while simultaneously preventing any unnecessary consequences from prolonged sedentary or screen time, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.07.016">delayed language development</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/h2012-063">irritable sleep patterns</a>.</p>
<p>Frequent outdoor play is important for young kids. Whether at daycare or at home, breaking up sitting time and taking kids outdoors will help encourage heart-pumping physical activity and provides them with countless <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4860-0">health benefits</a>. So this summer, don’t discount the benefits of encouraging shorter windows of more frequent play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brianne Bruijns receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship. </span></em></p>Restructuring children’s outdoor play in child care centres into shorter, more frequent bouts helps maximize children’s physical activity.Brianne Bruijns, PhD Candidate in Health Promotion, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1556142021-03-10T13:34:09Z2021-03-10T13:34:09ZKids spending too much time staring at screens? Focus on positive goals to get them moving and reading and talking<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388330/original/file-20210308-20-1ja87jq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C8%2C5755%2C3833&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting kids to put down their phones doesn't have to be a battle.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/girl-wearing-a-face-mask-checks-her-phone-as-she-waits-in-news-photo/1206683259">Carl Court/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As vaccines become more available and life begins returning to so-called normal, caregivers and educators may have to contend with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/16/health/covid-kids-tech-use.html">dramatically increased screen habits</a> that kids developed during the pandemic. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12384">My research</a> offers a positive – dare I say joyful – way to wean a child off of a screen habit. Instead of focusing on the excessive screen time, my approach focuses on the healthy activities that kids could be doing instead.</p>
<h2>Displaced activities</h2>
<p>Two theories explain the risks of excessive recreational screen time: the content theory and the displacement theory. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000399">content theory</a> – that what the children are watching or doing online is problematic – has received disproportionate attention. Most solutions that caregivers are familiar with, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/gaming-has-benefits-and-perils-parents-can-help-kids-by-playing-with-them-151744">co-viewing and being a media mentor</a>, are designed to address the content.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000399">displacement theory</a>, on the other hand, explains that time spent online means not doing other things, and that it’s the loss of those other activities – such as outdoor play or reading – that may result in problems paying attention or gaining too much weight.</p>
<p>This also gives caregivers – and those who work with caregivers – the opportunity to focus on a positive goal: increasing time spent in those activities, which may lead to less time online and better childhood health.</p>
<h2>Avoidance versus approach goals</h2>
<p>Focusing on a positive goal may work better than avoidance goals, such as staying away from sugary foods or cutting down on screen time. That’s because avoidance goals are typically associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203888148">poor mood and reduced goal persistence</a>. They rely on self-control, which can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12019">weaken over time</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, parents and caregivers typically struggle with screen avoidance goals and report a <a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-technology-use-children">great deal of arguments</a> about screen limits.</p>
<p>In contrast, approach goals encourage a desired activity or outcome and they are associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203888148">good mood, greater effectiveness and more goal persistence</a>. </p>
<p>Research on dieting and obesity demonstrates the effectiveness of approach over avoidance goals. For instance, in <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1038/oby.2001.18">one study</a>, families with one obese parent were assigned to either an avoidance diet plan that encouraged them to cut high-fat and high-sugar foods or an approach diet plan that encouraged them to eat more fruits and vegetables. After a year, families on the approach plan had lost more weight. In the process, they also reduced their intake of high-fat, high-sugar foods – which were edged out naturally by the fruits and vegetables. </p>
<p>Similarly, parents and caregivers can edge out screen time by encouraging meaningful activities that have long been shown to promote child development.</p>
<h2>SPOIL system</h2>
<p>SPOIL is an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12384">acronym I developed</a> to easily explain this information to parents and caregivers. It stands for Social activities, Play, Outdoor time, Independent work and Literacy. </p>
<p>The SPOIL activities can reverse the effects of recreational screen time. For example, active time outdoors can <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1111/apa.13285">promote sleep</a>, while excessive recreational screen time <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2014.07.007">can decrease sleep quality</a>. </p>
<p>Some elements of the SPOIL framework – such as social and literacy-based activities – encourage caregivers to spend time with children. Others – like play and independent work, which includes chores – encourage children to entertain or occupy themselves and regulate their emotions without the aid of a screen or a parent, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2591">pediatricians recommend</a>.</p>
<p>Here is a more in-depth look at what SPOIL involves.</p>
<h2>Social activities</h2>
<p>Social activities include time spent with parents, friends or siblings. In addition to obvious relationship-building benefits, social activities allow children to practice cooperation, competition and empathy. Since social interactions are <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2005-0812">inversely related to recreational screen time</a>, emphasizing them can decrease screen time naturally.</p>
<h2>Play</h2>
<p>Free play, especially pretend play, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-2058">has been linked to</a> planning, problem-solving and impulse-control skills as well as math achievement and physical, social and language development in children. Free play takes time to evolve and may occur when caregivers step back or are otherwise unavailable, allowing a child to direct their own attention. It also has an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2005-0812">inverse relationship</a> with screen time.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388546/original/file-20210309-13-15whj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young children shovel snow" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388546/original/file-20210309-13-15whj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388546/original/file-20210309-13-15whj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388546/original/file-20210309-13-15whj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388546/original/file-20210309-13-15whj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388546/original/file-20210309-13-15whj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388546/original/file-20210309-13-15whj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388546/original/file-20210309-13-15whj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">SPOIL goals can include spending more time outdoors, playing with friends and siblings, and doing household chores.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/left-to-right-evan-sims-and-his-brothers-connor-and-grant-news-photo/1089859998?adppopup=true">Marty Caivano/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Outdoor activities</h2>
<p>Outdoor time is associated with improved <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2010.02.003">sleep</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02225.x">attention</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051474">creative problem-solving</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192921">decreased stress</a>. <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188558">Multiple</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0009922813498152">studies</a> have found an inverse relationship between time spent outdoors and recreational screen time in children.</p>
<h2>Independent work</h2>
<p>Independent work includes goal-directed activities, such as homework and chores, that require a child to put aside an immediate interest. Participation in household chores has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cbl.30009">declined dramatically</a> in recent decades, despite chores <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cbl.30009">having positive links</a> with self-esteem, responsibility, academic achievement and self-sufficiency.</p>
<h2>Literacy</h2>
<p>Literacy involves all forms of reading and writing, including a child being read to, reading independently and listening to audiobooks. Reading is associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2009.11.002">understanding the perspectives of others</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2010.01.002">larger vocabulary and academic achievement</a>. As with many of the SPOIL categories, the frequency of reading in the home is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/DBP.0000000000000465">inversely related</a> to recreational screen time.</p>
<p>Replacing excessive screen time with SPOIL activities may support children’s development during and after the pandemic. Because positive approach goals rely less on self-control, they may be more sustainable and successful than avoidance goals. Additionally, these activities likely counteract some negative effects of excessive recreational screen time, which makes the emphasis on screen limits less necessary in the first place.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meghan Owenz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A psychologist explains why certain goals may be more effective than others in breaking screen habits.Meghan Owenz, Assistant Teaching Professor of Rehabilitation and Human Services, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1513512020-12-23T14:54:12Z2020-12-23T14:54:12ZMake room for play as we stumble through this pandemic holiday and new year<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375272/original/file-20201215-13-14hl64a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C22%2C4468%2C3280&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Play is integral to how children process and understand their experiences.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We hear constantly how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-canada-economy-covid-19-1.5780703">the economy</a>, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00078-eng.htm">personal finance</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pandemic-learning-gap-1.5732441">education</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2020.1761076">health</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-say-goodbye-to-zoom-yet-most-people-want-to-get-back-to-the-office-but-not-for-the-full-week-151057">the work day</a>. But what about play — how has the pandemic affected play? </p>
<p>The community capacity to provide play opportunities has been diminished by COVID-19 restrictions or closures, yet <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6881629/coronavirus-lockdown-child-care/">parental workload at home</a> has generally grown, which in turn has strained parents’ <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html">mental well-being</a>. Children’s play is now largely determined by parents’ ability to facilitate play in or around the home.</p>
<p>Research at the University of Regina has explored the effects that the pandemic appears to have on play. A recent study analyzed 10 conversations of between 60 and 90 minutes with parent participants describing their experiences in one-on-one virtual meetings, as well as hundreds of electronically submitted stories about play (or lack thereof) during the pandemic. The study is now undergoing peer review. </p>
<p>Since many communities are facing challenging second wave lockdowns or restrictions, we wanted to share our current recommendations for supporting play at home during the COVID-19 pandemic through the holidays and into 2021 <a href="https://www.playyqr.ca/research.html">based on our early findings</a> and our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2017.1288391">research expertise in play</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child at a playground in winter." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376486/original/file-20201222-17-45m1yk.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Making an effort to get outside even for a few minutes every day appears to be a critical step towards play, health and happiness during these challenging times.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Whitney Blaisdell)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Prioritize your own wellness</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4152417/">Parental wellness</a> is a critical factor to play during the pandemic. Adults whose wellness is suffering are more likely to become not only less playful, but to actively resist play. Conversely, adult wellness spills over to benefit children through an increased ability to be fun-loving, relaxed and playful. It is recommended that adults prioritize their own wellness throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<h2>2. Value play</h2>
<p>Play is often <a href="https://www.dailyitem.com/news/fulbright-scholar-where-did-play-time-go/article_09bb48d4-c925-5c42-8e59-c4db605b3c46.html">undervalued</a>. A perceived importance of <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=jcHOugXx33wC&oi=fnd&pg=PA147&dq=info:Ff-k8OUoUI8J:scholar.google.com&ots=YKM6E8lD0r&sig=wFKX44MDVdR0pPUei2EJMdFi52c&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">academic achievement over play for small children</a> and an increasingly <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/9/3134">risk-avoidant society can threaten children’s opportunities to play</a>. </p>
<p>Play is a wonderful <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X034001013">tool for learning and cognitive development</a>. More importantly, play is fun and life is short. </p>
<p>In the midst of a pandemic that has placed constant demands on people to <a href="https://hbr.org/sponsored/2020/07/6-ways-to-avoid-isolation-fatigue-while-balancing-the-demands-of-remote-work">adapt their professional capacities</a> while <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7417">lacking in-person contact</a>, play can become a vital avenue for both adults and children to strengthen our outlook and resilience. Approaching the pandemic, as much as possible, as a novel opportunity for family togetherness and play allows us to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic with greater joy and to foster resilience.</p>
<h2>3. Set a tone for neighbourhood play</h2>
<p>The visibility of children playing outdoors appears to be contagious. Parents can normalize free play by offering their children more freedom to play or even discussing their desire for a more playful community with neighbours. </p>
<p>Children have generally been <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/covid-19-return-to-school">expected to meet public health guidelines in school</a> that often include <a href="https://www.tdsb.on.ca/In-Person-Learning/Health-and-Safety/Mask-and-Face-Covering-Requirements-For-TDSB-Students-and-Staff">wearing masks</a> and <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/our-work/tracking-canadas-education-systems-response-to-covid-19/">maintaining physical distance</a> from people outside of their household; parents can ask and reasonably expect children to follow the same guidelines in their outdoor play. The current <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-adult-sports-ban-1.5826300">lack of structured activities</a> combined with the professional obligations of many parents working from home has created an opportunity for community revitalization of children’s outdoor free play.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Brothers with a sled." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376440/original/file-20201222-15-576lle.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents can play a role in normalizing free play by offering their children more freedom to play outside or talking with neighbours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. See children as drivers of play</h2>
<p>Children often engage in play with items or ideas that appear unchildlike or unplayful. Their play may revolve around mature concepts like death, illness, justice and control. Psychologist Lev Vygotsky <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1070266.pdf">famously wrote</a>: “In play a child is always above his average age, above his daily behaviour; in play it is as though he were a head taller than himself. As in the focus of a magnifying glass, play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form; in play it is as though the child were trying to jump above the level of his normal behaviour.” </p>
<p>Seeing children as drivers of their own play who are capable of conceiving, planning and executing their play will offer children an opportunity to increase their play stamina, while putting less stress on parents to entertain their children.</p>
<h2>5. Arrange a playful environment</h2>
<p>Homes with access to a private yard stand out as an advantage in offering opportunities for play. Of course, this is a privilege that <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00009-eng.htm">many families do not have</a>. However, a playful environment can be arranged with little to no spending. First, make the home feel as safe as necessary, so children can freely explore the home environment with minimal supervision. </p>
<p>Next, minimize toys. Children’s play relies surprisingly little on toys, and tidying toys can be a burden to parents who are currently experiencing a heavier domestic workload.</p>
<p>Finally, make outdoor access as easy as possible. Visible and easily accessed outerwear and footwear, and mats or towels near exterior doors to minimize mess, help make outdoor play more enjoyable and attractive.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Girl with soccer ball." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376442/original/file-20201222-23-5o42xm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spending time playing outdoors has been found to greatly contribute to one’s overall well-being.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>6. Get outside</h2>
<p>Spending time playing outdoors has been found to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3">greatly contribute to one’s overall well-being</a>. </p>
<p>Trying to make an effort to get outside even for a few minutes every day appears to be a critical step towards play, health and happiness during these challenging times.</p>
<p>Overall, COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2008017">individual and collective health and social and emotional functioning</a>. As we stumble our way through this pandemic, let’s remember that <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-children-process-grief-and-loss-through-play">play itself is integral to how children can process and understand their experiences with the pandemic; it is how they make sense of the world</a>.</p>
<p>Through attending to our own wellness, examining our attitudes towards play, normalizing child-structured outdoor play, framing children as drivers of play, arranging a playful environment and spending time outside, we too are attempting to be more playful and joyful during this challenging time. We wish the readers all the best in their own pursuit of play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151351/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick J Lewis is affiliated with Project Play YQR a non profit which works to promote Play. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Whitney Blaisdell is the founder of Project Play YQR, a non-profit organization that promotes play.</span></em></p>Supporting play begins with parents attending to their own wellness and seeing children as drivers of their own play.Patrick J Lewis, Associate Dean, Professor ECE, University of ReginaWhitney Blaisdell, Master's student, Faculty of Education, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1481622020-11-16T13:22:07Z2020-11-16T13:22:07ZConnecting to nature is good for kids – but they may need help coping with a planet in peril<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366800/original/file-20201030-13-cr69xz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C4682%2C2815&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Deep worry about climate change and biodiversity loss can affect kids' mental health.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/october-2020-berlin-a-child-walks-through-a-small-forest-on-news-photo/1229230508?adppopup=true">Kira Hofmann/Picture Alliance via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As an environmental psychologist who works to improve young people’s access to nature, I recently completed a review that brings <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10128">two bodies of research</a> together: one on connecting children and adolescents with nature, and the second on supporting healthy coping when they realize they are part of a planet in peril.</p>
<p>My review shows that children and adolescents <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10128">benefit from living near nature</a> and having adults in their lives who encourage free play and outdoor discovery. When they feel connected to nature, they are more likely to report good health and a sense of well-being, more likely to get high scores for creative thinking, and more inclined to show cooperative, helping behaviors. They are also more likely to say they are taking action to conserve nature, such as by feeding birds, saving energy and recycling.</p>
<p>On the flip side, lack of access to nature has adverse effects. For example, COVID-19 restrictions on travel and social gathering led <a href="https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/2020/04/10/covid-19-era-renewed-appreciation-our-parks-and-open-spaces">more people to visit parks</a> to escape stress and move freely. But some families don’t have safe, attractive parks nearby, or their local parks are so heavily used that it’s hard to maintain safe distances. Under these conditions, city families stuck indoors reported <a href="https://nyti.ms/2BrX9fH">mounting stress and deteriorating behavior</a> in their children. </p>
<p>My research literature review also shows that <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10128">feeling connected with nature can bring difficult emotions</a> as well as happiness and well-being. When young people are asked about their hopes and fears for the future, many describe environmental breakdown. For example, when a doctoral student I supervised asked 50 10- to 11-year-olds in Denver what the future would be like, almost three-quarters <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2011.602131">shared dystopic views</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Everything will die out, and there will be less trees and less plants, and there will be less nature. It just won’t be such a great Earth anymore.”</p>
<p>“I feel sad because the animals are going to die.” </p>
<p>“I feel sad because when I die I am probably gonna have a grandson or a great grandson by then and maybe them or their son or nephew is going to have to experience the end of the world.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Children who worry about the environment are likely to report that they are doing what they can to protect nature, but they almost always <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.02.004">report individual actions</a> like riding their bike to school or saving energy at home. Knowing that climate change and biodiversity loss are bigger problems than they can solve themselves can affect their mental health. </p>
<p>Fortunately, the research also shows some key ways adults can help children and teens work through these feelings and maintain hope that they – in alliance with others – can address environmental problems constructively.</p>
<h2>1. Create safe opportunities to share emotions</h2>
<p>When family, friends and teachers listen sympathetically and offer support, young people are more likely to feel hopeful that people’s actions <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916518763894">can make a positive difference</a>. Opportunities to envision a promising future, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1367916">plan pathways to get there</a> and have hands-on experiences of working toward this goal also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2020.1765131">build hope</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Encourage time outdoors in nature</h2>
<p>Free time in nature and opportunities to develop comfort and confidence in nature are positive experiences in themselves; and by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916518806686">boosting well-being</a>, providing time in nature can contribute to young people’s resilience. </p>
<h2>3. Build community with others who care for nature</h2>
<p>Meeting other people who love and care for nature <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.10128">affirms young people’s own feelings</a> of connection and shows them they’re not alone in working for a better world. Learning individual actions that add up to making a difference, or joining collective efforts to improve the environment, simultaneously demonstrate a sense of connection with nature and commitment to its care.</p>
<h2>4. Empower their ideas</h2>
<p>It’s important to <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781613321003/placemaking-with-children-and-youth/">treat young people as partners</a> in addressing environmental problems in their families, schools, communities and cities. A boy who was part of a group of children who created climate action proposals for his city in the Mountain West summarized the benefits. After they presented their ideas to their city council and got approval to launch a tree-planting campaign, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2019.1675594">he noted</a>, “There’s something about it … getting together, creating projects, knowing each other, working together.” </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Research is clear: Children and young people need free time to connect with nature, but it’s also important to support them when they struggle with the consequences of feeling part of a natural world that is currently at risk.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Chawla is affiliated with the Children and Nature Network as a member of their Scientific Advisory Committee. </span></em></p>Here are four ways adults can help kids work through their worries about the environment.Louise Chawla, Professor Emerita of Environmental Design, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1391802020-06-11T12:25:38Z2020-06-11T12:25:38ZNeighborhood-based friendships making a comeback for kids in the age of coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340632/original/file-20200609-21191-163w2ts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4910%2C3278&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new social world for children may be right outside their front door.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/kid-with-protective-face-mask-riding-on-kisck-royalty-free-image/1215270958">Martin Novak/Movement via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the weather has warmed in my Midwestern town, my neighborhood is full of children on bicycles pretending to be riding through the Wild West. I can’t walk down the sidewalk without stepping on chalk drawings or hopscotch boards. There are children jumping rope and playing ball. In the eight years I’ve lived here, I’ve never witnessed this before. As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&view_op=list_works&gmla=AJsN-F64KiXiAfp4eayA3X1ZnQ1-uDkYbTE3yMYQkppv7cvXGWWoakSw1DZiCMSm3mC-hLClEjUAn0o9lyj3FMiyJnVMc9t3sQ&user=pZm97h4AAAAJ">clinical psychologist</a> who studies children’s friendships, I am fascinated by this development.</p>
<p>Children’s social <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/what-coronavirus-will-do-kids/608608">worlds have been upended</a> by the suspension of school and extracurricular activities due to the pandemic. Many older children and adolescents have been able to <a href="https://mentorinternational.org/blog/2020/03/06/covid-19-social-media/">maintain their friendships over social media</a>. But, for younger children, this approach is less likely to be available to them and less likely to meet their social needs. In some places, a silver lining of COVID-19 may well be the resurgence of childhood friendships in American neighborhoods.</p>
<h2>Shifting locations for play</h2>
<p>Over the last 30 years, children’s friendships have been largely forged in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_18">classroom</a> and during <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543075002159">extracurricular activities</a>. That’s because, on average, children spend 6.5 hours a day in school, and 57% of children spend every day or most days <a href="https://www.wcwonline.org/vmfiles/factsheet2009.pdf">involved in extracurricular activities</a>. These settings provide not only an environment for learning, but also opportunities to make friends, learn about what is expected social behavior and build skills for social relationships.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340178/original/file-20200605-176575-18o9r89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340178/original/file-20200605-176575-18o9r89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340178/original/file-20200605-176575-18o9r89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340178/original/file-20200605-176575-18o9r89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340178/original/file-20200605-176575-18o9r89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340178/original/file-20200605-176575-18o9r89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340178/original/file-20200605-176575-18o9r89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340178/original/file-20200605-176575-18o9r89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Boys playing marbles in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1947.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Boys_Playing_Marbles_Oak_Ridge_1947_%28">Ed Westcott/United States Department of Energy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in the not-too-distant past, children’s friendships were formed and maintained within the American neighborhood. Friends on average <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.1933.10880371">lived less than a quarter-mile apart</a> and were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/h0072359">predominantly from the same neighborhood</a>. Children who <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/friendship-and-social-relations-in-children/oclc/23290591">lived close to one another</a> were found to have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431685053006">high-quality friendships</a> that were more frequent, emotionally intimate and longer-lasting than those that did not. </p>
<p>Research shows neighborhood-based play may have distinct advantages, as it is often characterized by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.17.4.399">mixed-age peer groups</a>. Having groups of friends with both older and younger playmates <a href="https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-lifespandevelopment/chapter/vygotskys-sociocultural-theory-of-cognitive-development/">may uniquely support children’s development</a> by allowing them to both learn skills from those that are older, while also serving as role models and mentors for children who are younger.</p>
<p>Children who struggle socially may also more easily choose younger friends, which may be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33033-4_6">an adaptive choice that better fits their social needs</a>. At the same time, more socially adept children may interact with older children who share similar capabilities and interests.</p>
<h2>Friendships on military bases</h2>
<p>There are pockets of the U.S., however, that have long maintained the tradition of neighborhood-based friendship. In new, yet-to-be-published research, my colleagues and I found children living on military installations were more likely to form their friendships within their neighborhoods than their civilian peers, with 37% of military-affiliated children forming their friendships in this setting as opposed to only 25% of civilian children. </p>
<p>We hypothesized that for military families, the close proximity of neighbors, the similarity created by their shared mission and the inherent sense of camaraderie involved in military service created a foundation for friendship formation. We observed the physical characteristics of their neighborhoods often include cul-de-sacs, swimming pools and recreation centers that promoted children’s interaction and also allow parents to feel a greater sense of community and safety.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340642/original/file-20200609-21186-1yao7vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340642/original/file-20200609-21186-1yao7vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/340642/original/file-20200609-21186-1yao7vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340642/original/file-20200609-21186-1yao7vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340642/original/file-20200609-21186-1yao7vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340642/original/file-20200609-21186-1yao7vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340642/original/file-20200609-21186-1yao7vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/340642/original/file-20200609-21186-1yao7vu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ready to play.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-boy-looking-out-the-window-wearing-a-royalty-free-image/1218034701">Yobro10/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The summer of 2020</h2>
<p>The school year is finishing, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/nyregion/nyc-pools-schools-closed-summer.html">many summer camps will be shuttered</a>. Research shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0033%E2%80%932909.102.3.357">children with positive friendships</a> feel less lonely, depressed and anxious and are less likely to get into trouble in their communities. In the coming months, encouraging children to find friendships close to home, may combat feelings of social isolation and support feelings of social fulfillment. For some parents, this may feel reminiscent of their own childhoods, when rousing outside games of kick the can or red rover were interrupted only by parents’ shouts from the front porch that it was time for dinner. </p>
<p>Parents can support a shift to neighborhood friendships by helping their children understand how to stay physically distant while socially and emotionally engaged. Parents may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037//0893-3200.7.3.356">form networks of social relationships</a> with neighbors to help foster their children’s relationships and provide a safety net of monitoring. They may structure their children’s days, suggesting times for indoor and outdoor play as well as old-school games. </p>
<p>These approaches may allow children to ride out this crisis and, in the process, possibly revive the American neighborhood and revitalize the benefits of friendship that are found within it.</p>
<p>[<em>You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-help">Read The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Wargo Aikins received funding relevant to her work on military families from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. </span></em></p>In some parts of the US, a silver lining of COVID-19 may be a return to childhood friendships based in neighborhoods.Julie Wargo Aikins, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1391652020-05-31T11:58:01Z2020-05-31T11:58:01ZKids will need recess more than ever when returning to school post-coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337773/original/file-20200526-106848-2mz63a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C395%2C5757%2C3502&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity for us to rethink and redesign how schools support children's social connections and opportunities for informal play and recreation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>School leaders globally are tasked with the unenviable challenge of planning for school reopenings after COVID-19 pandemic shut downs. Having experienced their own isolation, anxiety, exhaustion and challenges of taking schools online, they are now challenged to redesign their schools to mitigate the effects of a pandemic.</p>
<p>Amid concerns about social distancing, it would be easy for education authorities to consider recess as a low priority, and perhaps even easier to cancel it.</p>
<p>Please don’t. In anticipation that recess might be sidelined by the pandemic, we are among a newly formed group of researchers, pediatricians and school leaders concerned about recess. We are leveraging three decades of evidence related to children’s developmental needs to highlight, in a <a href="https://globalrecessalliance.org/recess-statement/">global statement</a>, why recess should be prioritized.</p>
<h2>Yes, prioritize recess</h2>
<p>Recess is typically the only unstructured time in the school day that provides a setting for children’s physical, social and emotional development — all of which are foundational for mental well-being, school engagement and learning. </p>
<p>But when children return to school, we must ensure recess is meaningful, playful and inclusive. Why is recess so important, and why now?</p>
<p>After months of physical and social isolation, stress and uncertainty, students are going to need a supportive, safe and inclusive place to connect with each other — far more than they need the opportunity to catch up with schoolwork. </p>
<p>From the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cs/article-abstract/40/2/114/4866398">students’ perspective</a>, recess is a social space; it is less about a break from class or accumulating their necessary daily physical activity. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337778/original/file-20200526-106815-10la9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337778/original/file-20200526-106815-10la9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337778/original/file-20200526-106815-10la9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337778/original/file-20200526-106815-10la9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337778/original/file-20200526-106815-10la9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337778/original/file-20200526-106815-10la9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337778/original/file-20200526-106815-10la9pn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children wash their hands at the Saint-Tronc Castelroc primary school in Marseille, France, May 14, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Daniel Cole)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Friendships, belonging</h2>
<p>What matters to students, first and foremost, is friendships, social connections and feelings of acceptance and belonging. And this happens through play, recreation and leisure activities — at every age.</p>
<p>Recess is the best time in the school day when students can connect with peers and engage in meaningful, self-directed, recreational play. </p>
<p>And for many children, especially those who live in high-poverty urban neighbourhoods, recess may be may be their <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/51ef9bcc4.html">only chance for outdoor, self-directed play in their entire day</a>. Increases in screen time, urban density, neighbourhood violence, fears of injury and abduction, lack of accessible or affordable recreation and a focus on organized sports all contribute to <a href="https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/facultyresearchandpublications/52383/items/1.0378361">declining opportunities</a> for informal play and recreation. And under the current pandemic, children’s mental health and emotional well-being will depend on it. </p>
<h2>Critical for health, well-being</h2>
<p>It is already clear that the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30168-1">mental health effects of the pandemic</a> are pervasive and are likely to persist. Given that 70 per cent of mental disorders <a href="https://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/human-humain06/pdf/human_face_e.pdf">begin in childhood</a>, children will need time and space to heal from the collective trauma.</p>
<p>Social relationships, in particular, provide a context for emotional support, enjoyment, creative play, physical activity and the development of social identities — all of which <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F0022146510383501">contribute to overall development and well-being</a>. School planning efforts must focus on reducing sustained feelings of isolation and loneliness in order to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs12160-010-9210-8">protect against widespread increases in anxiety, depression and suicide</a>.</p>
<h2>Recess can ease the effects of inequality</h2>
<p>This pandemic exacerbates the effects of pre-existing social inequality. Many schools in Canada, especially those serving the most vulnerable children, don’t have a <a href="http://www.recessprojectcanada.com/publications.html">history of supporting meaningful, quality recess experiences for students</a>. </p>
<p>Recess is typically overlooked in policy and practice, resulting in minimal funds, supervision and equipment. Canada has one of the highest rates of <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000366483">school-based violence</a> of all the developed nations, disproportionately affecting children from <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/51ef9bcc4.html">vulnerable populations</a> and undermining the positive benefits of social connection and play.</p>
<p>School environments themselves are telling, especially in our more vulnerable urban neighborhoods: concrete, rusty, barren and soulless. And instead of enjoyment and connection there is boredom, exclusion, conflict, behaviour challenges and violence — factors that promote social patterns that <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED598614">perpetuate inequity in schools</a>. There is much more we can do to support children, and we have an unprecedented opportunity now to do better.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337777/original/file-20200526-106815-8fgfcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337777/original/file-20200526-106815-8fgfcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337777/original/file-20200526-106815-8fgfcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337777/original/file-20200526-106815-8fgfcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337777/original/file-20200526-106815-8fgfcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337777/original/file-20200526-106815-8fgfcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/337777/original/file-20200526-106815-8fgfcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School principal Marie-Claude Bergeron calls out names of students to allow them in the school yard of the Marie-Derome School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., on May 11, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The right to recess</h2>
<p>Yes, recess is a fundamental human right. Canada is a ratified member of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Of the 54 articles, one of the most overlooked and unprotected of the rights is <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/51ef9bcc4.html">Article 31</a>, “the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child.” </p>
<p>Schools are not exempt from playing a role in protecting and promoting children’s right to play, rest and leisure. Schools have a responsibility to ensure the recess environment is inclusive, fully accessible, secure from the effects of social harm and appropriate for all genders, ages, stages and abilities.</p>
<h2>But what about COVID-19?</h2>
<p>Our research group has combined our expertise to provide answers and concrete strategies for a recess that not only works under the current circumstances but paves the way for a better recess. The purpose of our global statement is to provide educators with practical evidence-based strategies that ensure opportunities for healthy, meaningful play while simultaneously minimizing the spread of the virus. </p>
<p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/guidance-for-schools.html">recommends segregating recess by class</a>. Smaller groups will not only minimize the spread of the virus but provide an opportunity to ensure recess is much more manageable, inclusive and enjoyable.</p>
<h2>5 recommendations</h2>
<p>In collaboration with local health officials, schools could consider the following <a href="https://globalrecessalliance.org/recess-statement/">recommendations</a>:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Count recess as instructional time to enable teachers to remain with and support their class, and provide a separate dedicated break time for the teacher.</p></li>
<li><p>Schedule at least two sustained periods of recess every day for every child and hold it outdoors whenever possible.</p></li>
<li><p>Engage children in planning and ensure they include a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2014.932504">continuum of options</a> to choose from. Engage them in setting expectations and rules for health and safety. Provide leadership opportunities for students to help support each other, maintain the equipment and emphasize the importance of <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED598614">diversity and inclusion</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Avoid strict rules like “no running” and “no ball throwing” that can <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120606423">undermine the benefits of play and physical activity</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t withhold recess as punishment for missed schoolwork, poor classroom behaviour or any other reason. Instead, ensure that all children have access, feel safe and included and are able to experience meaningful and playful engagement.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This pandemic provides us with an opportunity to rethink — and redesign — the way we support social connection and opportunities for informal play and recreation in school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139165/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren McNamara receives funding from the McConnell Family Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pasi Sahlberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Global experts in child development say recess will be critical for children’s well-being when schools reopen, so education authorities should see planning recess as a high priority.Lauren McNamara, Research Scientist (Education and Social Change), Diversity Insitute, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityPasi Sahlberg, Professor of Education Policy, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1324292020-05-10T11:59:10Z2020-05-10T11:59:10ZScotland’s outdoor play initiative has some lessons for the rest of the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319211/original/file-20200308-64601-f6mhg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5782%2C2969&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scotland is making strides in improving its population's social and physical well-being — by taking children's early learning and care outside.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Scotland considers the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-52445877">eventual re-opening of schools</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/wkrussell/status/1255760751714799616">and non-emergency child-care facilities</a> as the threat of coronavirus recedes, early childhood advocates are eagerly anticipating a now-delayed rollout of an important social policy experiment. </p>
<p>The Scottish government planned to undertake a <a href="https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/strategy-plan/2017/10/blueprint-2020-expansion-early-learning-childcare-scotland-quality-action-plan/documents/00526782-pdf/00526782-pdf/govscot%3Adocument/00526782.pdf">child-care initiative to double the number of fully funded (free) child-care hours available to parents</a>. This initiative was intended to unfold by the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-52100862">end of 2020, but in light of coronavirus closures, this timeframe has now be extended</a>. </p>
<p>As part of this effort to expand fully funded child care, a new focus on outdoor play emerged. The outdoor play movement in Scotland initially started as a grassroots effort but <a href="https://www.careinspectorate.com/images/Seeing_the_wood_for_the_trees_journal_Henry_Mathias.pdf">has been adopted by the national government</a> as a <a href="https://digitalpublications.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefings/Report/2019/4/16/The-expansion-of-early-learning-and-childcare">way to accommodate more children within child-care programs</a>, address obesity, reduce screen time, increase children and parents’ connection to the environment, and improve mental health issues.</p>
<p>As such, the innovative and large-scale initiative is one whereby <a href="https://lawson.ca/advancing-op-ece.pdf">children in early learning and care programs will be required to spend a significant portion of their time outdoors</a>. </p>
<h2>Significant outdoor play not the norm</h2>
<p>What defines a significant portion of time may vary greatly between individual children and programs. Currently, in Scotland, as in other parts of the western world (for example, Scandinavia, Canada, Australia), outdoor play programs are “boutique” programs that serve and are staffed by a very small subset of families, children and early childhood educators. The majority of parents who send their children to outdoor play programs often do so on a <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1143993">part-time basis (between one to three days per week) rather than on a full-time basis</a>. </p>
<p>It is not clear what the reaction will be in Scotland when more outdoor play is brought in to the mainstream.</p>
<p>This balance between time spent indoors versus outdoors represents an effort to provide children with structured early learning and care services that provide time to play and explore freely in the natural environment. Outdoor play presents an important opportunity for growth and enrichment for children. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1233088810516389888"}"></div></p>
<h2>Benefits to children</h2>
<p>In addition to the <a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph120606423">physical and psychological benefits for children’s development</a>, <a href="http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:29073">educators advocating for outdoor play view the natural environment</a> as an open and relaxing place where <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012576913074">children can exercise more control over their activities</a>. </p>
<p>The research on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2013.771152">the effects of outdoor play programs on children</a> has largely been conducted with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X15614042">small-scale qualitative studies</a> in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-017-0203-7">context of existing programs</a>.</p>
<p>We do not have large-scale data to suggest how outdoor play will affect children and educators when it is mandated for children in mainstream care settings. Moreover, as we documented in a recent study <a href="https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/">in press with the <em>Canadian Journal of Environmental Education</em></a>, (“How and why did outdoor play become a central focus of Scottish Early Learning and Care policy?”), there are several barriers to outdoor play in Scotland. </p>
<p>These include parental buy-in, weather and equipment constraints, child preferences, educator training, funding issues and the fact that parents, policy makers and educators <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X15614042">perceive outdoor play to involve greater risk for children</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321428/original/file-20200318-1964-aris86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321428/original/file-20200318-1964-aris86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321428/original/file-20200318-1964-aris86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321428/original/file-20200318-1964-aris86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321428/original/file-20200318-1964-aris86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321428/original/file-20200318-1964-aris86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321428/original/file-20200318-1964-aris86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A young boy drew a line in the ground with his foot as we approached a river bank, and explained no-one was allowed to go past that point without an adult.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Children learn about risk</h2>
<p>This perceived risk in outdoor play settings is an interesting and nuanced issue. There is a constant <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fijerph9093134">tension for parents, educators and policy-makers</a> between the inclination to protect children from harm on the one hand and, on the other hand, the acknowledgement that over-protecting children may do them a disservice in the long run. </p>
<p>Teaching children to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-54700-002">recognize, assess and manage levels of risk for themselves and others is a fundamental life skill</a>. </p>
<p>During our study, when we visited outdoor play programs in Scotland, we witnessed some beautiful examples of adults guiding children on managing risks. For example, there was a young boy who, when we approached a river bank, drew a line in the ground with his foot and pointed to it, explaining to us that no one was allowed to go past that point without an adult. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321438/original/file-20200318-1913-uob3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321438/original/file-20200318-1913-uob3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321438/original/file-20200318-1913-uob3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321438/original/file-20200318-1913-uob3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321438/original/file-20200318-1913-uob3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321438/original/file-20200318-1913-uob3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/321438/original/file-20200318-1913-uob3a6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Educators help children learn to scan for poisonous and prickly plants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other examples included educators helping children assess a safe height for climbing a tree and teaching children to scan for poisonous and prickly plants. </p>
<p>When such risk assessment procedures are well thought out and explicit, they can help reduce children’s risk in the moment and help them assess risk for themselves in the long run.</p>
<h2>Training and grit</h2>
<p>We also found in our research that in addition to concerns about risks to children, Scotland faces concerns from parents and educators about putting children outside for long periods given its cold, wet and windy climate. </p>
<p>There is a worry that educators and program leaders will not have the necessary training or grit to oversee these programs. Stakeholders we interviewed in our study all noted that the adults leading these outdoor programs need to have specialized training, knowledge and endurance to tackle the unique challenges faced in outdoor environments. Among these stakeholders were policy makers, educators, child-care advocates and individuals working for the Forestry Commission (since 2019 the commission split into two organizations, <a href="https://www.forestcentenary.scot/1999to2019">Forestry and Land Scotland and Scottish Forestry</a>). </p>
<p>However, it is worth noting that outdoor schooling <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ceb7/fff6aa13921cf6cb3645ae9b948704470c4f.pdf">and outdoor play programs</a> in western schooling systems <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hisfam.2003.04.001">initially began in Scandinavian countries</a>. These countries have long, dark winters. This dispels the notion that such outdoor play programs are not viable in countries with cold climates such as Scotland and even Canada. </p>
<p>Given the many benefits of outdoor play, we hope people are encouraged to take advantage of outdoor spaces available in both rural and urban settings. You don’t have to go far outside to find them, regardless of where you live.</p>
<p>Time will tell if Scotland’s experiment will work. While it may not solve all the pragmatic issues faced by the Scottish government, such as a severe shortage of ready facilities, it will serve as a crucial source of information on outdoor play for the rest of the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132429/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michal Perlman received funding from the Lawson Foundation to conduct research on Scotland's outdoor play policy.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Bergeron receives funding from Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:nina.howe@concordia.ca">nina.howe@concordia.ca</a> receives funding from Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Lawson Foundation, and Concordia University. </span></em></p>Scotland is undertaking a child-care initiative to double the number of fully funded child-care hours available to parents, and outdoor play is part of it.Michal Perlman, Professor of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of TorontoCatherine Bergeron, Research Co-ordinator and PhD Student, Counselling Psychology, McGill UniversityNina Howe, Professor of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Research Chair in Early Childhood Development and Education, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1371872020-05-06T20:47:12Z2020-05-06T20:47:12ZCoronavirus spotlights equity and access issues with children’s right to play<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332119/original/file-20200503-42956-lc0fny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C112%2C2497%2C1769&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Caution tape is pictured surrounding a children's play structure in North Vancouver, B.C., March 23, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Mommy, the police are coming!” my nine-year-old calls to me from her scooter. We’re on the lakefront path near our home in Toronto and she’s anxious after seeing <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/toronto-mayor-says-complaints-about-physical-distancing-violations-dropped-dramatically-1.4892800">by-law enforcement officers patrolling the park</a>. </p>
<p>We’ve also heard about the father in Oakville who was fined <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6810568/coronavirus-oakville-ontario-rollarblading-fine/">for rollerblading in an empty parking lot with his three children</a>. </p>
<p>Many guidelines for outdoor activity in the pandemic don’t seem to consider children’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-in-doubt-let-them-out-children-have-the-right-to-play-128780">need and right to play</a>. The City of Toronto’s guidelines on physical distancing speak of <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-protect-yourself-others/covid-19-stay-reduce-virus-spread/?accordion=physical-distancing">limiting trips outdoors</a>. </p>
<p>Toronto has said in its COVID-19 changes to city services that “people can <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-latest-city-of-toronto-news/affected-city-services/">walk/run/bike” on the various routes through a park</a> but there’s no mention of play.</p>
<p>So how can parents support a child’s need and right to play, when they don’t have a backyard or anywhere else to escape?</p>
<p>In my doctoral work at the University of Toronto, I study children’s outdoor play. I’m particularly interested in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2019.1684145">how adults support outdoor play</a> to ensure children have access to high-quality play opportunities. I’ve learned that all adults, from public health officials to police officers to parents and neighbours, need to understand the importance of outdoor play to healthy child development in order to support it.</p>
<h2>Access to play in a pandemic</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/2/190">parents strongly influence whether their children go out to play</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.01.005">access to spaces and places to play matters</a>. Some families have private backyards or cottages and some live in houses with wide boulevards and fewer cars, but many do not. </p>
<p>Although the key public health imperative in this crisis is to <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/should-i-go-outside-in-the-covid-19-era/">stay apart from others, official guidelines encourage us to stay home</a>. The <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/pandemic-play-child-centred-policy-in-a-global-crisis/">closing of all national parks, many provincial parks</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/conservation-authority-closed-covid-1.5508074">conservation areas</a> has reduced public access to green spaces. In Toronto, where we live, even <a href="http://www.highparktoronto.com/">High Park is currently closed</a> <a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/04/29/high-park-closure-cherry-blossoms/">as budding cherry blossoms tend to attract crowds</a>.</p>
<p>When municipal <a href="https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/03/25/city-of-toronto-closing-all-park-amenities-and-playgrounds/">playground equipment is also closed</a>, children’s play naturally increases in other community spaces, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.16.1.0151?seq=1">including neighbourhood streets</a>. </p>
<p>In our small townhouse complex, children and families play in the laneway and culs-de-sac. We have to be mindful of cars for safety. While many of our neighbours support children’s play, some complain it’s a noisy nuisance and do not welcome children or our basketball net in our community space. </p>
<p>Even under normal circumstances, all of these challenges of finding spaces to play are multiplied when high-rise apartment buildings and population-dense neighbourhoods suffer from a <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/designing-cities-outdoor-play">lack of urban planning for children’s play</a>. </p>
<p>In a pandemic, when playgrounds and parks are closed, how on Earth are parents with varied access to the outdoors supposed to manage when there is nowhere for them to take their children to play outside? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332120/original/file-20200503-42962-ny4oia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332120/original/file-20200503-42962-ny4oia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332120/original/file-20200503-42962-ny4oia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332120/original/file-20200503-42962-ny4oia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332120/original/file-20200503-42962-ny4oia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332120/original/file-20200503-42962-ny4oia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332120/original/file-20200503-42962-ny4oia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Challenges of finding spaces to play are multiplied when high-rise apartment buildings and population-dense neighbourhoods suffer from a lack of urban planning for children’s play.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Children don’t ‘exercise,’ they play</h2>
<p>While adults quietly go out for a walk and to exercise, children energetically burst outside to play.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/outdoor-play-glossary-of-terms-5.1.pdf">outdoor play</a>, children run, skip, climb, circle back and stop to explore. They build and destroy. They take <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/outdoor-risky-play">risks and test their limits</a>. Children pretend and make up their own games. They play traditional games like basketball. They also make some noise! </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children1030280">Children need play</a> more than ever right now. </p>
<p>Like everyone else, <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/stress-resilience-and-the-role-of-science-responding-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic/">children are under great stress during COVID-19</a>. They are separated from school and friends, and they are trying to adapt as best they can. Tragically, some children are at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsir.2020.100089">increased risk for abuse</a> when stuck inside with stressed caregivers. Physical activity researchers have expressed concern about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30131-0">the potential demise in healthy movement behaviours during the pandemic, particularly for vulnerable families in high-density housing with reduced access to the outdoors</a>.</p>
<p>Making sure all children can play outdoors is one of the best ways to help kids because <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/position-statement-on-active-outdoor-play/">outdoor play has multiple benefits</a>. It supports <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(17)30092-5">mental health</a>. It keeps kids <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fijerph120606455">active and healthy</a>, which <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/influence-outdoor-play-social-and-cognitive-development">in turn supports learning and development</a>. </p>
<p>Children think creatively and solve problems as they play. They learn to get along with others and manage their behaviour. </p>
<p><a href="https://csepguidelines.ca/children-and-youth-5-17/">Canadian guidelines</a> recommend children spend several hours a day in light physical activity that is <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/12/6/6455/htm">most naturally acquired outdoors</a> through play where there is room to move. And for once in our busy lives, children have more time to play!</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332878/original/file-20200505-83757-10as6vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/332878/original/file-20200505-83757-10as6vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332878/original/file-20200505-83757-10as6vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332878/original/file-20200505-83757-10as6vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332878/original/file-20200505-83757-10as6vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332878/original/file-20200505-83757-10as6vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/332878/original/file-20200505-83757-10as6vx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While adults quietly go out for a walk and to exercise, children energetically burst outside to play.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A child’s right to play</h2>
<p>The child’s right to play, <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/portfolios/crc.html">as guaranteed by Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,</a> is compatible with physical distancing principles when we recognize outdoor play as the natural, desirable behaviour of children. </p>
<p>Children should be encouraged to play outdoors safely, not stuck inside or channelled into “exercising” as the only manner to use a park. The risk of virus transmission via contact with shared surfaces can be eliminated by asking families to use their own play materials and equipment. </p>
<p>Amid <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/children-may-not-be-super-spreaders-afterall-new-research-suggests-1.5552099">uncertainty about children as spreaders of the coronavirus</a>, decision makers might consider <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2013.863440">children’s need to play with other children</a> and assess the risks versus the benefits of limiting social play beyond individual households. Closing streets and enabling the use of vast empty parking lots would provide increased space to play where green space is scarce. </p>
<p>Although greater attention to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2019.1682836">child-friendly urban planning</a> is required to truly address equitable access to outdoor play, more can be done now. If we stop to consider children’s particular needs, adults can find ways to support outdoor play through more inclusive public health policy and its implementation.</p>
<p>As we navigate and move beyond this crisis, outdoor play can be a powerful intervention for children’s present and future well-being — as long as access to the outdoors doesn’t hinge on a family’s backyard status.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137187/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Alden works for the Lawson Foundation as Program Director for Early Child Development and the Outdoor Play Strategy. </span></em></p>One father was fined for rollerblading with kids in a parking lot, while other families hit the cottage. Families’ backyard or property status should not determine kids’ right to outdoor play.Christine Alden, PhD Candidate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1316392020-03-15T11:41:06Z2020-03-15T11:41:06ZKeeping kids active despite the weather: Promoting outdoor activity all year round<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319956/original/file-20200311-116232-nysm05.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C0%2C2923%2C2034&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Although colder weather is linked to lower levels of physical activity, changing seasons provide unique opportunities to be active.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Given the climate in much of Canada, cold, wet or snowy conditions are inescapable for many months of the year. And like it or not, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/pes.22.1.81">weather and seasonality</a> are a barrier to Canadian children engaging in physical activity. Consequently, we need to find a way to help children (as well as parents and educators) embrace the outdoors and stay active all year round. </p>
<p>This is particularly important as kids are more active outdoors than indoor. Since children’s activity levels <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2007.04.009">vary with the seasons</a>, getting kids outside year-round is important for meeting movement guidelines.</p>
<h2>Physical activity in cold, wet months</h2>
<p><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fijerph6102639">Snow and cold temperatures</a> are tied to low levels of physical activity. Parents have identified warmer seasons as more conducive to physical activity for their children and colder seasons as posing <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2FBF03405170">greater challenges</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, children’s social and built environments are not very accommodating of active living in the winter. When temperatures are low, social norms among Canadians encourage staying indoors participating in more sedentary behaviours, like watching movies, streaming shows, playing video games, reading books or doing crafts. Likewise, extremely hot and humid days also have the tendency to drive kids indoors. </p>
<p>Many of the environments in which children spend the majority of their waking hours during the week (schools and childcare) often have strict <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5027337/indoor-recess-canada-winter/">policies prohibiting outdoor play when temperatures drop below a particular level</a>. Even when kids can get outside, there are <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2105%2FAJPH.2013.301319">many safety regulations</a> these settings must abide by (such as prohibiting some outdoor equipment, splashing in puddles, and making snow hills off limits), which hamper children’s innate desire to move their bodies outdoors.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319437/original/file-20200309-118956-ncmtj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C50%2C4718%2C3128&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319437/original/file-20200309-118956-ncmtj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319437/original/file-20200309-118956-ncmtj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319437/original/file-20200309-118956-ncmtj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319437/original/file-20200309-118956-ncmtj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319437/original/file-20200309-118956-ncmtj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319437/original/file-20200309-118956-ncmtj6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Physical activity is an important part of children’s healthy development.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Knoxville News Sentinel, Saul Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fortunately, changing seasons also present unique opportunities to be active, try different activities and improve healthy behaviours. Different settings — including water, ice, and snow — provide opportunities to develop or enhance new skills, like balance, co-ordination, agility, lifting and lowering, running, crawling, throwing and hopping. </p>
<h2>How to help kids stay active all year long</h2>
<p>Based on current research, there are numerous <a href="https://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/physical-activity-guidelines#TABLE%202">evidence-informed recommendations</a> that can be drawn upon to help <a href="https://csepguidelines.ca/children-and-youth-5-17/">support, encourage, and promote increased activity levels</a> among children.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319996/original/file-20200311-116270-8f75yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319996/original/file-20200311-116270-8f75yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319996/original/file-20200311-116270-8f75yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319996/original/file-20200311-116270-8f75yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319996/original/file-20200311-116270-8f75yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319996/original/file-20200311-116270-8f75yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319996/original/file-20200311-116270-8f75yl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children enjoy themselves on a playground at Wasaho Cree Nation School in Fort Severn, Ontario’s most northerly community, in this April 2018 photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Keep it fun and positive</strong>. Children have different interests and enthusiasms, so it is important to suggest and enable activities that your child will enjoy. This may involve some trial and error: you might make mistakes and you might find different children in your home enjoy different activities. </p>
<p><strong>Stick to a routine</strong>. Find the times for activity that work best for your family and stick with them. In certain cases, you may need to get creative and consider new ways to get active if it’s not possible to play outside (heat or cold weather advisories). Also be mindful that it gets dark early during the winter months. </p>
<p><strong>Make it a family affair</strong>. Physical activity should be valued by the whole family and maintained as a priority. Getting everyone involved (including the family dog!) provides key opportunities to model healthy behaviours and provide positive behavioural prompts. Bonus: physical activities are a great way to spend time and bond as a family.</p>
<p><strong>Break it up</strong>. Kids do not need to accumulate the <a href="https://csepguidelines.ca/children-and-youth-5-17/">recommended 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity</a> in a single bout. It is OK to break it up and still reap the health benefits. Every little bit helps! </p>
<p><strong>Dress to impress</strong>. Wear layers (this will help children regulate their body temperature) made of breathable materials that repel water, and wear gloves, hats and warm boots when frostbite is a risk. From a health and safety perspective, wear reflective gear (to be seen at night), wear sunscreen and sunglasses (UVA/UVB rays are present, and water and snow-covered surfaces reflect the sun), and remember that helmets are as essential for tobogganing, skiing, and skating as they are for cycling, skateboarding, and rollerblading.</p>
<h2>Need some ideas to get your kids moving?</h2>
<p>There are plenty of options to keep children moving in any season, many of which can be done in groups, with the family, or even solo. </p>
<p>When the opportunity arises to get kids outdoors, consider some of the following activities: play tag, go for walks, rake leaves, swim in a pool or lake, go cycling or wheeling with friends. </p>
<p>In colder weather, build a snowman/snow angel, go tobogganing, have a snowball fight, go skiing (cross-country or downhill), try snowshoeing, go skating, help with snow shovelling, build a snow fort or try snow painting.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319441/original/file-20200309-167285-1uierrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319441/original/file-20200309-167285-1uierrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319441/original/file-20200309-167285-1uierrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319441/original/file-20200309-167285-1uierrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319441/original/file-20200309-167285-1uierrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319441/original/file-20200309-167285-1uierrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319441/original/file-20200309-167285-1uierrb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keep sunscreen and helmets handy for tobogganing, skiing or skating, as well as for biking, skateboarding and rollerblading.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And in those instances when it’s not safe to be outdoors, don’t let this deter children from moving their bodies. Either take the fun indoors or just venture outside for a short time — <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fijerph120606475">kids need the fresh air for a brain break and to expend energy</a>. </p>
<p>Some indoor activities include: have a dance party, play hide and seek, help with household chores, do yoga, participate in an indoor scavenger hunt or obstacle course. If you don’t have a ton of space indoors, venture to a community recreation centre or sports facility. </p>
<p>Check your local recreation centre for classes and activities, or your YMCA, indoor pool, ice rink or gym. Try ice skating or roller skating, go bowling or take a long walk inside the local mall.</p>
<p>Physical activity is an important part of children’s healthy development — ensuring this need is met in every season is equally important!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131639/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leigh Vanderloo is affiliated with ParticipACTION. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trish Tucker receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Keeping kids active in winter can be a challenge, as cold temperatures and icy conditions often mean more time indoors. Here’s how to maintain a healthy activity level throughout Canadian winters.Leigh Vanderloo, Adjunct Professor, Child Health and Physical Activity Lab, School of Occupational Therapy, Western UniversityTrish Tucker, Associate Professor and Director of the Child Health and Physical Activity Lab, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1287802019-12-16T16:31:13Z2019-12-16T16:31:13ZIf in doubt, let them out — children have the right to play<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306852/original/file-20191213-85412-3vsxjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C543%2C5137%2C3120&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 2019 UNICEF Canada report shows that only 21 per cent of children aged five to 11 engage in at least 1.5 hours a day of active play and unstructured activities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>New research from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Health Measures Survey reaffirmed the dramatic decline in Canadian children’s fitness seen over the past 35 years — with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31617932">only one-third of Canadian school-aged children</a> meeting physical activity guidelines. </p>
<p>Other research from the same survey showed that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27655167">physical activity increases when children are outdoors</a>. Each additional hour spent outdoors per day is associated with seven more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, 762 more steps and 13 fewer minutes of sedentary time. Canadian children need to get outside to play more, to help them move more — and it is their right.</p>
<p>In late November, the <a href="https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> marked its 30th anniversary. This document enshrines a child’s right to play, saying that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child … and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The convention also commits states “to develop preventive health care” and “guidance for parents” which can include the health benefits of active play.</p>
<p>Canada is failing to honour these commitments. The <a href="https://www.participaction.com/en-ca/resources/report-card">2018 ParticipACTION Report Card on the Physical Activity of Children and Youth</a>
gives Canada a “D” grade for “Active Play and Leisure Activities,” while the <a href="https://oneyouth.unicef.ca/sites/default/files/2019-08/2019_Baseline_Report_Canadian_Index_of_Child_and_Youth_Well-being.pdf">2019 UNICEF Canada Baseline Report for the Canadian Index of Child and Youth Well-being</a> shows that only 21 per cent of children aged five to 11 engage in at least 1.5 hours a day of active play and unstructured activities. The recent Statistics Canada research reaffirms these findings.</p>
<h2>Adult fears restrict play</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/introduction">Playing outdoors is better than indoors</a>, but the availability of digital media coupled with fears concerning stranger danger and play injury, among others, have shifted children indoors. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.outdoorplaycanada.ca/position-statement-on-active-outdoor-play/">position statement on active outdoor play</a>, endorsed by the <a href="http://www.phn-rsp.ca/aop-position-jae/index-eng.php">Canadian Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health</a>, concluded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Access to active play in nature and outdoors — with its risks — is essential for healthy child development. We recommend increasing children’s opportunities for self-directed play outdoors in all settings — at home, at school, in child care, the community and nature.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In an era of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-school-bans-hard-balls-1.1080366">schoolyard ball bans</a> and debates about <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tobogganing-winter-sport-or-illegal-activity-1.2891340">safe tobogganing</a>, have we as a society lost the appropriate balance between keeping children healthy and active and protecting them from serious harm? Have we restricted a child’s right to play and their access to the holistic health benefits of active outdoor play?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/9/3134/htm">Adults’ fears</a> about all that can go wrong when children play is a barrier to letting children play outside. In the case of schools and other institutions, these <a href="https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2012.13.4.300">fears can result in unnecessary and restrictive policies</a> that limit the amount and type of play available to children. </p>
<h2>One in 14 million risk of abduction</h2>
<p>Yet the injury statistics show that children today are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.17269/CJPH.107.5315">safer than at any other time in Canada</a>. Car crashes are the leading causes of child death, yet we do not hesitate to put our children in cars to “keep them safe.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306762/original/file-20191213-85391-1g3mdct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306762/original/file-20191213-85391-1g3mdct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306762/original/file-20191213-85391-1g3mdct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306762/original/file-20191213-85391-1g3mdct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306762/original/file-20191213-85391-1g3mdct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306762/original/file-20191213-85391-1g3mdct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306762/original/file-20191213-85391-1g3mdct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children’s outdoor play supports a myriad of health and developmental outcomes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/child-abductions-by-strangers-rare-in-canada-1.1335061">risk of abduction by a stranger is so remote</a> that statistics are not regularly released by police agencies. Public Safety Canada estimated the risk at <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cn33598-eng.pdf">one in 14 million</a> more than 15 years ago.</p>
<p>The likelihood of a child dying from a fall from play equipment or a tree is even lower at one in 70 million, and there are no recorded deaths for children falling from trees in the 17 years of available statistics. Serious injuries are also extremely rare; the <a href="https://activesafe.ca/playground/">likelihood of sustaining a fracture while playing is 0.0004 per cent</a>.</p>
<h2>A duty to provide active outdoor play</h2>
<p>There are also <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/topic-commentary-why-outdoor-play">unique benefits of being in the outdoors, particularly in nature</a>. When children play the way they want outdoors they move more, sit less and play longer. </p>
<p>They get their hands dirty and are exposed to microbes that help them build immunity. They make their own goals and figure out the steps to attain those goals. They learn, build resilience, develop social skills and learn how to manage risks and keep safe. Their eyes get the exercise needed to combat short-sightedness.</p>
<p>The research is clear: children’s outdoor play supports a myriad of health and developmental outcomes. Despite these benefits and the remoteness of adverse events we restrict our children’s right to play outside. </p>
<p>As 2019, the year of the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child soon comes to a close, we are reminded of our duty to provide, encourage and facilitate active outdoor play for our children’s healthy development. </p>
<p>If in doubt, let them out — it’s their right.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128780/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark S. Tremblay receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, The Lawson Foundation, the Public Health Agency of Canada, ParticipACTION and salary support form the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute. He is President of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance, Chair of Outdoor Play Canada, Chief Scientific Officer of the ParticipACTION and was primary author of the Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariana Brussoni receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Lawson Foundation and salary support from the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. She is a board member of the Child & Nature Alliance of Canada and on the leadership group for Outdoor Play Canada.</span></em></p>On the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, let’s remember children’s right to play.Mark S Tremblay, Professor of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaMariana Brussoni, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Public Health, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1258662019-11-19T22:02:22Z2019-11-19T22:02:22ZChildren in childcare are not getting enough moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301370/original/file-20191112-178502-xf0d67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=188%2C319%2C5177%2C3317&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research has linked outdoor play among young children to improved self-confidence, self-awareness and decision-making.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many children are now <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/190410/dq190410a-eng.htm">enrolled in some type of childcare</a> while their parents work, many for multiple hours a day, several days a week. </p>
<p>Given the increasingly busy schedules of today’s families, parents often rely on early childhood educators (ECEs) in childcare centres to supply children with their daily physical activity, as well as other opportunities for nurturing their development.</p>
<p>But are they prepared for the challenge? The evidence suggests we may be placing an unfair burden on these education specialists. </p>
<p>Physical activity, in the form of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4860-0">active play, offers many benefits</a> — physically, cognitively and socially. New <a href="https://csepguidelines.ca/early-years-0-4/">Canadian</a> and <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/311664">international guidelines from the World Health Organization</a> identify the need for young children to participate in daily heart-pumping physical activity. </p>
<p>We both have <a href="https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/ot/about/faculty/tucker_t.html">doctoral degrees in health promotion</a>, with a particular emphasis on physical activity in the early years. Our research in the Child Health and Physical Activity Lab at Western University <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2015.1053105">shows that young children in childcare are not meeting national or international guidelines on physical acitivity</a>. Specifically they are not getting enough moderate to vigorous intensity activity. </p>
<p>This places our kids at a huge disadvantage from a physical, psychological and social development perspective.</p>
<h2>Childcare providers need better training</h2>
<p>In one study of Ontario-based childcare providers, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09575141003667282">ECEs identified that they lack confidence</a> to develop opportunities and to engage young children in physical activity during childcare hours. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-kids-need-risk-fear-and-excitement-in-play-81450">Why kids need risk, fear and excitement in play</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This means that <a href="https://bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-018-1358-6">teacher education and professional development opportunities that teach “how much” and “how to” lead physical activity</a> opportunities are essential training.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301369/original/file-20191112-178494-cpo12g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301369/original/file-20191112-178494-cpo12g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301369/original/file-20191112-178494-cpo12g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301369/original/file-20191112-178494-cpo12g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301369/original/file-20191112-178494-cpo12g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301369/original/file-20191112-178494-cpo12g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301369/original/file-20191112-178494-cpo12g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Active play can happen indoors as well as outdoors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also need to support ECEs with appropriate equipment and resources. Dedicated gross motor space (outdoors and indoors, for when the weather is bad) and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110201794">portable play equipment</a>, such as balls, hoops and logs, are essential for getting kids to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2018.03.003">hop, skip, jump and run</a>. </p>
<h2>Children 10 times more active outdoors</h2>
<p>Finally, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2013-0137">importance of outdoor free play</a> needs to be emphasized — as an easy and inexpensive way to increase physical activity levels among this young population. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nature-stories-children-experience-the-seasons-with-indigenous-knowledge-keepers-123447">Nature stories: Children experience the seasons with Indigenous knowledge keepers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our research suggests that children are <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4126/htm">10 times more active outdoors</a> than indoors in childcare. So getting kids (and adults) outside, regardless of the weather, supports their movement endeavours. </p>
<p><a href="https://earthday.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Participaction-PositionStatement-ActiveOutdoorPlay_0.pdf">Outdoor play</a> among young children has been associated with improved self-confidence, self-awareness and decision-making.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301375/original/file-20191112-178494-1fvicim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301375/original/file-20191112-178494-1fvicim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301375/original/file-20191112-178494-1fvicim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301375/original/file-20191112-178494-1fvicim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301375/original/file-20191112-178494-1fvicim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301375/original/file-20191112-178494-1fvicim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/301375/original/file-20191112-178494-1fvicim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young children should have frequent opportunities for short outdoor play periods during the day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Outdoor play is also associated with increased access to <a href="https://participaction.cdn.prismic.io/participaction%2F45e84385-dc07-48a3-af13-3cd43a44a9eb_participaction-2015-report-card-highlight.pdf">better air quality</a> (compared to indoors) — thus decreasing children’s exposure to common allergens (e.g., dust, mould, pet dander) and infectious diseases. </p>
<h2>Research into action</h2>
<p>Research has identified the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2015.1053105">influence of childcare centres and staff on the physical activity levels of young children</a>. Now is the time to put this knowledge into action. </p>
<p>Creating physical activity policies, supporting professional development and training in ECE diploma programs prior to entering the workforce, and consistent provision of varied portable equipment and outdoor play are key places to start.</p>
<p>However, there is still lots we need to know. How can we integrate more movement into educators’ daily programming with kids? How can we make lesson plans more active? What can be done to maximize opportunities for gross motor movement indoors? More research is needed.</p>
<p>We are addressing this need with research which we hope will support and inform early childhood care settings. Such supports could include daily opportunities for short, frequent outdoor play periods. It could include educating children about the importance of moving their bodies daily along with active role modelling and positive prompts to kids when they engage in active play.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125866/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trish Tucker receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. Trish sits on the Research Advisory Committee for ParticipACTION. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Leigh Vanderloo receives funding from The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Fellowship Research Award). She leads the Knowledge Translation Department at ParticipACTION and holds a Research Fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children. </span></em></p>Experts in child health and physical activity offer recommendations for training of early childhood educators, and strategies to get kids moving.Trish Tucker, Associate Professor and Director of the Child Health and Physical Activity Lab, Western UniversityLeigh Vanderloo, Adjunct Professor, Child Health and Physical Activity Lab, School of Occupational Therapy, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1180312019-06-11T23:09:05Z2019-06-11T23:09:05ZFrom obesity to allergies, outdoor play is the best medicine for children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278978/original/file-20190611-32356-13o88s8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C59%2C4984%2C3183&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children report being at their happiest when playing outside.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What if there was a simple, inexpensive and fun way to address some of the major challenges facing humanity today. What if it could help improve children’s health, development and well-being?</p>
<p>Imagine a solution that could stem the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32129-3">current epidemics of obesity</a>, anxiety and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2009.10.005">depression</a> affecting children and youth today. Imagine that this solution could also promote brain health, creativity and academic achievement and prepare our children for the <a href="https://www.realplaycoalition.com/value-of-play-report/">rapidly-changing work force</a>. </p>
<p>Along the way it could reduce incidence of allergies, asthma and other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1205624109">immunity challenges</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12845">improve eye health</a>. It could <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/indigenizing-outdoor-play">foster a culture of environmental stewardship and sustainability</a> and help build the health of cities — promoting neighbourliness and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.12.015">feelings of community connection</a>. </p>
<p>Imagine that this intervention could also help countries meet their targets for many of the <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/">United Nations Sustainable Development Goals</a>, such as the goals of Good Health and Well-being, Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education, Decent Work and Economic Growth and Climate Action.</p>
<p>This isn’t an expensive intervention, or one that parents have to force their children to do — like homework or eating their vegetables. Rather than dreading it, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2014.937963">children report being at their happiest</a> when doing it and they seek ways to keep at it for as long as possible.</p>
<p>What is this fix-all simple solution? Playing outside.</p>
<h2>The magic of outdoor play</h2>
<p>Many of us have <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.26.1.0017">fond memories of childhoods spent outside</a>, hanging out with friends in our neighbourhoods, parks and wild places, making up the rules as we went along, with minimal (if any) adult supervision. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278984/original/file-20190611-32356-1vvvbdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278984/original/file-20190611-32356-1vvvbdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278984/original/file-20190611-32356-1vvvbdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278984/original/file-20190611-32356-1vvvbdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278984/original/file-20190611-32356-1vvvbdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278984/original/file-20190611-32356-1vvvbdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278984/original/file-20190611-32356-1vvvbdz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children need the time, space and freedom to play outdoors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We need only reflect on our own play memories to realize how valuable these experiences can be and how they can shape our lifelong health and development. The research is now catching up to our intuitions, recognizing the <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/">vast and diverse benefits of outdoor play</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-kids-need-risk-fear-and-excitement-in-play-81450">Why kids need risk, fear and excitement in play</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Playing outside is not the same as playing inside. There are <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/topic-commentary-why-outdoor-play">unique benefits of being in the outdoors</a>, particularly in nature, that don’t come as readily indoors. When children are allowed to play the way they want to play in stimulating environments, <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/active-outdoor-play">they move more, sit less and play longer</a>. </p>
<p>They get their hands in the dirt and are <a href="http://letthemeatdirt.com/">exposed to microbes that help them build their immunity</a>. They make their own goals and figure out the steps to attain those goals, helping them build <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/influence-outdoor-play-social-and-cognitive-development">executive function skills</a>. They <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/young-childrens-outdoor-play-based-learning">learn</a>, build resilience and <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/influence-outdoor-play-social-and-cognitive-development">develop their social skills</a>, learn how to <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/outdoor-risky-play">manage risks</a> and keep themselves safe. Their eyes get the exercise they need to help combat <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12845">short-sightedness</a>.</p>
<p>We are rediscovering the magic of outdoor play. Governments see it as a way of <a href="http://www.phn-rsp.ca/aop-position-jae/index-eng.php">getting kids active</a> and averting the obesity crisis. Schools and <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/building-capacity-support-outdoor-play-early-childhood-education">early childhood centres</a> see it as a way of promoting academic and socio-emotional learning. Corporations see it as a way of <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/play-gap-hurting-childrens-skills-futures">preparing children for the jobs of the future</a> that will focus on creativity, empathy and connection with others. Children just see it as a way of having fun and feeling free!</p>
<h2>Adults must let go of their fears</h2>
<p>There are three key ingredients to supporting outdoor play: <a href="http://www.playwales.org.uk/eng/outdoorplay">time, space and freedom</a>.</p>
<p>Kids need time to be able to play outside. In schools, that means <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1137793.pdf">recess policies that get kids outside every day</a>, finding opportunities to use the outdoors for learning and limiting homework. At home, that means laying aside screens and limiting scheduled structured activities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278988/original/file-20190611-32331-12mgj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278988/original/file-20190611-32331-12mgj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278988/original/file-20190611-32331-12mgj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278988/original/file-20190611-32331-12mgj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278988/original/file-20190611-32331-12mgj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278988/original/file-20190611-32331-12mgj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278988/original/file-20190611-32331-12mgj2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Risky play teaches children to keep themselves safe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kids also need <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/early-childhood-outdoor-play-and-learning-spaces-ecopals-achieving">high quality outdoor spaces</a> to play in. That doesn’t necessarily mean expensive playground equipment. It means <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/creating-inclusive-naturalized-outdoor-play-environments">spaces where all children feel welcome</a>, regardless of their abilities and backgrounds, that they can make their own and that also have loose parts (for example sticks, stones, water and cardboard boxes) they can use and let their imagination shape the play. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-tips-to-manage-screen-time-this-summer-97844">Five tips to manage screen time this summer</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In cities, that means being prepared for and allowing play to happen everywhere, not just parks and playgrounds. We need to design <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/outdoor-play/according-experts/designing-cities-outdoor-play">inclusive and child-friendly cities</a> where kids feel welcome everywhere and can easily access nature.</p>
<p>Finally, freedom: the biggest barrier to children’s ability to play the way they want to play is adults. We need to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-kids-need-risk-fear-and-excitement-in-play-81450">let go of our excessive fears of injuries and kidnapping</a> and realize that the benefits of kids getting out to play far outweigh the risks. My lab developed a <a href="https://outsideplay.ca/">risk reframing tool for parents and caregivers to help them on this journey</a>.</p>
<h2>Support the children in your life</h2>
<p>Helping support children’s outdoor play can be as simple as opening the front door. It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. If we all do our bit, we can help bring back this crucial activity that should be part of all children’s daily lives, regardless of age, cultural background, gender or ability. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278989/original/file-20190611-32317-1hy7cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278989/original/file-20190611-32317-1hy7cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278989/original/file-20190611-32317-1hy7cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278989/original/file-20190611-32317-1hy7cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278989/original/file-20190611-32317-1hy7cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278989/original/file-20190611-32317-1hy7cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278989/original/file-20190611-32317-1hy7cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Playing outdoors reduces incidence of allergies, asthma and other immunity challenges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Matthew T Rader)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are lots of <a href="https://www.cpha.ca/unstructured-play">tools to help you get started</a>, whether you’re a parent, caregiver, <a href="http://lawson.ca/advancing-op-ece.pdf">educator</a>, city planner or a neighbour. </p>
<p>I would encourage you to consider one simple and attainable thing you are going to do today to help get the child or children in your life get out to play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariana Brussoni receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Lawson Foundation and salary support from the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. She is a board member of the Child & Nature Alliance of Canada.</span></em></p>Adults must let go of their fears of injury and kidnapping. Children need free outdoor play to build physical immunity, psychological health, executive functioning and social skills.Mariana Brussoni, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Public Health, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1135412019-03-20T10:33:53Z2019-03-20T10:33:53Z5 ways summer camp makes a difference – and what to look for in a camp<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264402/original/file-20190318-28479-fxsh7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More than 14 million kids attend summer camp each year.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/398057353?size=huge_jpg">Rawpixel from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In popular culture, summer camp is often portrayed as a place where pranks are played, romances unfold and underdogs triumph. Classic summer camp movies such as the 1979 film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079540/">“Meatballs”</a> or, more recently, the 2012 movie <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748122/">“Moonrise Kingdom</a>,” are just a couple of examples. Movies aside, summer camp can be a meaningful experience that helps kids learn important life lessons and have fun along the way.</p>
<p>There are countless reasons why American parents spend a collective <a href="https://clients1.ibisworld.com/reports/us/industry/ataglance.aspx?entid=5349">US$3.5 Billion</a> on summer camp each year. Not all summer camp experiences will be great. There may even be some experiences that parents and participants <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/fashion/summer-camp-is-remembered-sometimes-not-so-fondly.html">would rather forget</a>. However, as researchers who focus on youth development and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dan_Richmond2">outdoor activities</a> – and who are doing a study financed by the American Camp Association that looks at <a href="https://www.acacamps.org/resource-library/camping-magazine/acas-youth-impact-study">the impact of camp</a> – we believe that, on balance, summer camp makes a positive difference in children’s lives.</p>
<h2>1. Kids gain independence</h2>
<p>Traditional overnight camps create a “third space” for kids to learn valuable life skills in different ways than they do at home or school. Going to camp offers kids needed time away from family and regular friend groups. These experiences give them <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330447720_Fostering_distinct_and_transferable_learning_via_summer_camp">the space to gain independence</a>. </p>
<p>Qualities to seek in a summer camp include high expectations and opportunities for campers to be responsible and accountable for individual and group tasks. These opportunities can be as simple as pitching in on kitchen duties or as involved as leading the planning of the camp-wide talent show. A quality camp experience is one in which kids gain the confidence that they can take care of themselves and also contribute to something bigger.</p>
<p>In the world of summer camps – much as it is in educational settings that range from child care to college – accreditation is seen as a seal of approval. To see if a camp has accreditation from the American Camp Association, you can check the association’s <a href="http://find.acacamps.org/index.php">database</a>. </p>
<h2>2. Kids develop essential relationship skills</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264406/original/file-20190318-28468-70ff1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264406/original/file-20190318-28468-70ff1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264406/original/file-20190318-28468-70ff1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264406/original/file-20190318-28468-70ff1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264406/original/file-20190318-28468-70ff1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264406/original/file-20190318-28468-70ff1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264406/original/file-20190318-28468-70ff1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264406/original/file-20190318-28468-70ff1d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Summer camp offers the chance to learn relationship skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/team-summer-camp-591401357">Oksana Shufrych from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A great camp experience involves making new friends, offering kids opportunities to practice the skills needed to build and maintain relationships. For most campers, this social function of camp is central to their experiences, unlike school where academic outcomes drive most of their daily activities. Adults who went to camp often report that camp was critical to developing their <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324668774_Examining_the_Role_of_Summer_Camps_in_Developing_Academic_and_Workplace_Readiness">ability to be open with others</a> and create friendships over a short period.</p>
<p>The social environment at an overnight camp can be intense, as kids can’t escape the daily drama by going home at night. This means that camp counselors encourage kids to deal with conflict rather than avoid it. Great camps have well-trained, caring adults able to guide kids through conflict, providing opportunities to practice communication, empathy and compassion – key components of maintaining positive relationships.</p>
<h2>3. Kids learn to appreciate differences</h2>
<p>As adults, building and maintaining relationships requires the ability to understand and appreciate differences among people. Great camps provide a space where kids can <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225360997_Youth_Development_Outcomes_of_the_Camp_Experience_Evidence_for_Multidimensional_Growth">interact with people from different backgrounds and worldviews</a>. At some camps, this might be interacting with kids of different cultural, religious or racial backgrounds. At others, it might mean making friends with campers and counselors from different parts of the world or being with kids from different economic or family conditions. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264421/original/file-20190318-28487-zvktpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264421/original/file-20190318-28487-zvktpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264421/original/file-20190318-28487-zvktpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264421/original/file-20190318-28487-zvktpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264421/original/file-20190318-28487-zvktpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264421/original/file-20190318-28487-zvktpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264421/original/file-20190318-28487-zvktpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264421/original/file-20190318-28487-zvktpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Summer camp brings together kids from different backgrounds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kids-pulling-large-rope-together-309240356">wavebreakmedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Building awareness of our differences, and learning to be empathetic to challenges that some people with different life experiences face, takes practice. Camps, especially those unaffiliated with a school or specific neighborhood, can bring together all kinds of kids and caring adults, providing an excellent opportunity for young people to see the world differently than how they might at home.</p>
<h2>4. Kids connect with nature</h2>
<p>Summer camps have connected kids to nature for about as long as kids have been going to camp. Around the turn of the 20th century, many camps focused on being a place for kids from the city to experience the wonders of the natural world. Fortunately, great camps continue to connect kids to nature through nature-based programming and simply being outside. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264409/original/file-20190318-28499-1qs79ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264409/original/file-20190318-28499-1qs79ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264409/original/file-20190318-28499-1qs79ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264409/original/file-20190318-28499-1qs79ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264409/original/file-20190318-28499-1qs79ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264409/original/file-20190318-28499-1qs79ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264409/original/file-20190318-28499-1qs79ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264409/original/file-20190318-28499-1qs79ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Connecting with nature is a key feature of summer camp.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tourists-camp-rest-enjoy-nature-food-211136374">wassilly-architect from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Time use trends show us that kids (and adults) are spending more time indoors leading to what Richard Louv has called a “<a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/people-in-nature/200901/no-more-nature-deficit-disorder">nature deficit disorder</a>.” Great camps can provide a safe space for kids to be outside and explore the natural world. Former campers often report that camp was the place that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330447720_Fostering_distinct_and_transferable_learning_via_summer_camp">helped them develop an affinity for nature</a> and outdoor activities more than any other place during their childhood. </p>
<h2>5. Kids get to be kids</h2>
<p>In a highly connected and stressful world, there has been <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200811/the-art-now-six-steps-living-in-the-moment">an increased interest in being more authentically engaged with others and our world</a>. If you are a parent looking to help your kid put down their phone, reduce their screen time, worry less about “likes” on social media and just be a kid, then the old idea of camp seems like a custom-built solution. </p>
<p>Great camps allow kids to play in non-virtual worlds and interact with friends face to face rather than through a device. And most importantly, at camp kids get to be kids – and that might be the most compelling reason why camp still matters.</p>
<h2>Challenges</h2>
<p>Despite the benefits of summer camp, unfortunately, not every family can afford the traditional overnight summer camp. And not every kid or family is ready for such an experience. </p>
<p>Day camps near home can provide similar developmental opportunities, minus the benefits associated with being away for an extended period. The upside is that they are often less expensive and more accessible. </p>
<p>For those kids that are ready for overnight camp but whose parents can’t afford such camps, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330154320_Camp_as_an_Institution_of_Socialization_Past_Present_and_Future">scholarships and camps targeting youth from poor families</a> can help. For instance, there are several prominent programs that provide access to camp experiences for low-income youth. They include the <a href="https://www.c5leaders.org/">C5 Youth Foundation</a> in Boston, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas and Los Angeles; <a href="https://www.sherwoodforeststl.org/">Sherwood Forest</a> in St. Louis; and <a href="https://collegesettlement.org/">College Settlement</a> in Pennsylvania, just to name a few. Yet, there remains a significant “<a href="http://robertdputnam.com/about-our-kids/">opportunity gap</a>” between the rich and poor that needs to be addressed so that more kids can have transformative camp experiences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel J Richmond is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Utah. His position is funded by the University of Utah with support from the American Camp Association and the Spencer Foundation. He is also affiliated with NOLS, an outdoor leadership school, where he serves as a field instructor.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Warner is a research assistant for the American Camp Association (ACA), is currently working on research funded by the ACA Not-for-Profit Council, and is an active member of ACA.</span></em></p>Summer camps – long the stuff of American lore – can teach kids important life lessons as they have some fun along the way. Two experts on summer camp offer insight into what those lessons are.Dan Richmond, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of UtahRobert Warner, Ph.D. Student and Graduate Research Assistant, University of Utah, University of UtahLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1107362019-01-31T23:10:19Z2019-01-31T23:10:19ZLearning in the snow: How children develop through all-weather outdoor play<p>Oh, to be a child again! To find joy in the newness of each day and be in awe of what lies waiting to be discovered. </p>
<p>As researchers, through a case study, we wanted to learn more about the ways one kindergarten class in northern Ontario nurtured curiosity in the outdoors. We invited the kindergarten community including educators, families and teacher candidates to share their experiences with us. </p>
<p>The kindergarten team moved alongside the children to look for evidence or <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/wien.pdf">traces of their curiosity</a> and to document this with photos, quotes and video. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.naeyc.org/files/tyc/file/Seitz.pdf">The power of documentation</a> is that it invites reflection on moments of learning, and on the theories that children are developing about the world they live in. </p>
<p>It is tremendously validating for children to feel “heard,” to know that what they are curious about is interesting and important. </p>
<h2>A snow and water investigation</h2>
<p>Through investigating water and snow, this kindergarten community experienced the <a href="http://www.lotc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Benefits-for-Early-Years-LOtC-Final-5AUG09.pdf">benefits of learning in the outdoors</a>.</p>
<p>For this group of kindergarten learners, the transformation from winter to spring sparked a noticeable curiosity about water and the children expressed this in different ways. </p>
<p>The children were invigorated by the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2016.1251793">ever-changing conditions of the outdoors</a>. With all of their senses awakened, they marvelled and <a href="http://edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/Callaghan.pdf">made connections to understand themselves in their world</a>.</p>
<p>Tools and <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v42i4.18103">loose parts</a> invited the children to explore, problem solve and innovate in social ways.</p>
<p>The children demonstrated a desire to move snow with reused containers, spoons, shovels and donated toboggans. The kindergarten team invited families to contribute to the <a href="http://www.imagineeducation.com.au/files/CHCECE018022/14.pdf">collection of items</a>. </p>
<p>One child took the lead to shovel the doorways of the school in winter, and to co-ordinate the piling and moving of snow and ice on toboggans to transform their schoolyard playscape. </p>
<p>Over the days and weeks that followed, sparked by making pathways for water outside, groups of children experimented with tubes and marbles, designing like architects and engineers.</p>
<p>Throughout the water investigation, the kindergarten team heard children wonder, question and share their working theories: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Where is the water coming from?”</p>
<p>“Look how it’s following the pathways! It’s getting stuck over here.”</p>
<p>“Come follow my tracks!”</p>
<p>“I’m using the shovel to make a path in the mud.”</p>
<p>“I can see through the ice…It’s like a window!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The children expressed curiosity in multiple ways. Some chose to study the water closely with puzzled expressions, some shared a flurry of questions about water while others stomped and splashed with wild abandon. </p>
<p>One child with rubber boots, teetering on the edge of fascination, dipped a toe at the edge of a puddle, crunching the frozen edge delightedly.</p>
<p>The kindergarten team observed the children investigating with persistent fascination about how they live and interact with water, how it changes state and how it flows.</p>
<h2>Educators help children make connections</h2>
<p>Energized by their pervasive curiosity with melting snow, water, pipes and flooding (indoors and out!), the children were <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_InquiryBased.pdf">guided by their interests</a>, and the educators named the learning that revealed itself through this journey. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I noticed that the students were more engaged because the learning was connected to something in the real world.” (teacher candidate) </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The kindergarten team selected books that <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016/learning-environment">honoured the children’s interests</a> and challenged their thinking. One example, <em>Water’s Children,</em> invited them to think about themselves in relationship with water and the world.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256131/original/file-20190129-108334-1buhhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256131/original/file-20190129-108334-1buhhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256131/original/file-20190129-108334-1buhhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256131/original/file-20190129-108334-1buhhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256131/original/file-20190129-108334-1buhhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256131/original/file-20190129-108334-1buhhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256131/original/file-20190129-108334-1buhhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Water’s Children: Celebrating the Resource that Unites Us All.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The learners’ experiences within the outdoor environment also provided opportunity to explore global understandings such as how water moves, and how our lives are connected by water. </p>
<p>Such learning develops empathy and understanding towards each other and the natural world. </p>
<p>The kindergarten children paired up with older learners to design posters with powerful messages about caring for and protecting water. These were then posted throughout the school in an effort to impact the thinking and actions of others in the school community. </p>
<p>While investigating outdoors, children demonstrated <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/cbs_thirdteacher.pdf">reasoning and proving, reflecting, selecting tools and strategies, connecting, representing and communicating</a>. </p>
<p>The kindergarten educator team valued how the natural environment offers something unique, something different and <a href="https://www.haloresearch.ca/outdoorplay/">something challenging every day</a>.</p>
<h2>What did our families and <strong>educators</strong> notice?</h2>
<p>In speaking to how children benefit from learning actively in the outdoors, families, in surveys, said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“They run, jump, hop, skip, dodge all on their own. They look at their learning area differently and appreciate the freedom and take in all this learning with wide open eyes.”</p>
<p>“We love experiencing the world through nature. We all share the planet and have a special role to play.” </p>
<p>“They benefit from fresh air as well as a change of scenery…”</p>
<p>“We love sunshine and vitamin D!”</p>
<p>“…children who play outdoors are healthier, happier, less stressed and more creative.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Together, educators and families noted many benefits including how the children were filled with <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/A_Place_for_Wonder.html?id=vWGdaKUfSTEC&redir_esc=y">wonderings</a> and <a href="http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/howlearninghappens.pdf">curiosity</a> and became scientists, explorers, mathematicians, artists and storytellers of their world. </p>
<p>Educators noticed that in the outdoor setting, the integration of curriculum areas and teamwork emerged: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“How amazing it was to connect math, geography, and science to one experience…outside.” (Anne, teacher candidate)</p>
<p>“…it opened up so many possibilities for learning… the awareness of conservation of water, the teamwork that had to go into achieving the goal.” (Laura, teacher)</p>
<p>“Each interaction between child and nature is unique and offers a fresh, new perspective.” (Lotje, kindergarten teacher)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1202546">Learning through inquiry</a> was central to these experiences. </p>
<h2>Noticing, naming and nudging at barriers</h2>
<p>When we asked parents if they perceived any barriers to outdoor play, parents identified concerns such as “sun exposure without protection” and “bug bites that are potentially dangerous.” </p>
<p>Educators identified barriers related to weather preparedness, safety and <a href="http://www.OutsidePlay.ca">risks</a> as well as the unpredictability of inquiry-based learning. </p>
<p>Of particular note, our case study revealed the many ways participants <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v41i1.15461">nudged at these potential barriers</a> in support of the above benefits, with safety at the forefront.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110736/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Awe-filled learning unfolds as a kindergarten class, accompanied by educators, investigates snow and water with tools, toboggans and more.Tara-Lynn Scheffel, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Education, Nipissing UniversityAstrid Steele, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Education, Nipissing UniversityJeff Scott, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Education, Nipissing UniversityLotje Hives, Research Collaborator, Schulich School of Education, Nipissing UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1058512018-11-01T03:44:13Z2018-11-01T03:44:13ZOne man’s trash: how using everyday items for play benefits kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243381/original/file-20181101-78462-3gnvyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Playing with every day items increases kids' creativity and engagement. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Primary school students have <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811047374">over 4,000</a> recess and lunch periods. This is a substantial period of time we can utilise to improve play habits and behaviour. </p>
<p>To enhance the quality of outdoor play, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-09/loose-parts-play-recycling-junk-into-creative-playgrounds/8506212">primary</a> <a href="https://www.perthnow.com.au/features/perth-schools-turn-playgrounds-into-junkyards-to-boost-creativity-ng-a233465df3da598e83d64cc1586e3f57">schools</a> <a href="http://www.norandaps.wa.edu.au/loose-parts-play/">across</a> <a href="https://wpssite.wordpress.com/2016/03/24/loose-parts-play-at-wardie/">Australia</a> are moving away from more traditional, fixed school play facilities (such as monkey bars and slides) and embracing everyday equipment.</p>
<p>This includes loose, recycled or scrap parts (blocks for climbing/building, tunnels, pipes, crates, foam, rubber and plastic parts) and sports equipment (balls, bats, boards and hoops). The equipment can be transformed according to students’ play needs over time. </p>
<p>Sourced from households and the community, the equipment strategy has been recognised as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-2452-4">cost-effective</a>, <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss1/6/">sustainable</a> and continues to produce <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14729679.2018.1436078">cognitive</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2017.1348319">social</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/josh.12550">physical</a> benefits for primary school students.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-just-let-them-play-24670">Should we just let them play?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>The benefit of every day items for play</h2>
<p>Australian research has found the introduction of everyday equipment into outdoor school spaces has resulted in significant increases in primary school students’ physical <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009174351300042X">activity</a> <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.25.3.0109#metadata_info_tab_contents">intensity</a> during active play, <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1471-2458-14-164">step counts</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14729679.2017.1347048">types</a> (and complexity) of play, physical quality of life, <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1471-2458-14-164">enjoyment</a> and can complement the national <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03004279.2016.1152282">curriculum</a>. </p>
<p>Students have used the movable equipment to work <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2017.1348319">cooperatively</a> in different team <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss1/6/">roles</a> to design, plan, construct, observe, negotiate and learn from each other to discover new ideas to solve problems. </p>
<p><a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss1/6/">Teachers</a> <a href="http://www.playengland.org.uk/media/340836/supporting_school_improvement_through_play.pdf">have</a> <a href="https://www.playpods.co.uk/s/CSS-Head-Teachers-Report-Branded.pdf">reported</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14729679.2017.1286993">improvements</a> in social inclusion, behaviour, staff/student happiness, confidence, self esteem, levels of aggression, injury and bullying incidences from introducing everyday equipment. <a href="https://www.playpods.co.uk/s/CSS-Head-Teachers-Report-Branded.pdf">Head teachers</a> in the United Kingdom have even reported improvements in students’ classroom engagement. </p>
<p>Research is unveiling that everyday equipment can align with the play <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14733285.2018.1463430">needs</a> of girls within school spaces, as girls tend to <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/jpp/2015/00000002/00000002/art00002">enjoy</a> play opportunities that are more creative, imaginative and social. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nqi1KyJJeKg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Scrapstore Play Pod in Action in the United Kingdom.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/play-based-learning-can-set-your-child-up-for-success-at-school-and-beyond-91393">Play-based learning can set your child up for success at school and beyond</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Creative potential</h2>
<p>The introduction of every day “mobile” equipment has the potential to
improve students’ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760802699878">creativity</a> and initiative by increasing the number of play <a href="https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/SDEC/article/view/1204">variables</a> (such as colours, shapes, sizes, types, quantities, potential locations) available. Students can then take advantage of increased play options to make their own games, discoveries and obstacle courses.</p>
<p>With more play options, students are more challenged, preventing frustration and boredom. Boredom can <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol40/iss6/4/">result</a> from being exposed to the same fixed playground equipment lodged in the same location year after year. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kPI-9y-zZbs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Every day equipment in action at an Australian Primary School.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/being-in-nature-is-good-for-learning-heres-how-to-get-kids-off-screens-and-outside-104935">Being in nature is good for learning, here's how to get kids off screens and outside</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>What can parents do at home?</h2>
<p>Because everyday equipment is sourced from homes, play can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-164">replicated</a> beyond school time. Here are a few tips:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>make sure kids have enough space for <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss1/6/">multiple play areas</a> to <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol40/iss6/4">avoid</a> collisions </p></li>
<li><p>ensure the area is clear of any hazards such as wires and glass. Grass areas with trees <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss1/6/">are best</a>, allowing a softer surface for landing. Hard-surface undercover areas can be an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-164">alternative</a> during wet conditions</p></li>
<li><p>source movable equipment from either the home or <a href="https://harmonyps.wa.edu.au/2018/06/19/loose-parts-play/">community</a>, including milk crates, pipes, plastic sheets, tyre tubes, wooden planks, plastic sheets, assorted play balls, bats and rope. Cardboard boxes and plastic objects such as buckets, baskets and hula hoops can be useful short-term play options, but can be less <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss1/6/">sustainable</a></p></li>
<li><p>start by introducing around five <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss1/6/">types</a> of equipment and occasionally add <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/josh.12550">more</a> items over time. Teachers have reported this strategy works better than giving too many options at once </p></li>
<li><p>provide a large storage area (container, <a href="https://www.playpods.co.uk/s/CSS-Head-Teachers-Report-Branded.pdf">pod</a> or cage) to put all the equipment away at the end of the the week, session or before rainy weather. <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2043610617694731">Cardboard</a> boxes can go out of shape quickly, especially with rain. </p></li>
<li><p>although supervision is important, make sure children can direct their own play without too much adult intervention. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/9/3134/htm">Self-directed</a> play and providing adequate levels of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760802699878">risk</a> and challenge is vital for children’s <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/9/9/3134/htm">development</a>. Adults also need to be accepting that it could get <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14729679.2017.1286993">messy</a></p></li>
<li><p>have a <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol39/iss1/6/">rule</a> that allows kids to have specific equipment for the entire week and then be distributed to others the following week. Consider rules such as no <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760802699878">stacking</a> or jumping from equipment above waist height on harder surfaces</p></li>
<li><p>have a routine for an adult to regularly check for any <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760802699878">damaged</a> equipment (such as removing equipment with wooden/plastic splinters). The adult can also reflect on how the children are using the equipment (for example, consider if anything should be added or removed to aid the play structures). </p></li>
</ol>
<p>We need to give kids more space to be creative, especially in outdoor school spaces, to develop the cognitive, social and physical capabilities they’ll need into adulthood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/105851/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendon Hyndman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recycled or scrap parts including tunnels, pipes, crates, foam, rubber and plastic parts make for better play equipment for kids than a fixed swing set.Brendon Hyndman, Senior Lecturer and Course Director of Postgraduate Studies in Education, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.