Outdoor Play
Play outside!
Outdoor play allows our children’s creative juices to flow, and provides them with opportunities to learn to manage risk, build social skills and develop resiliency.
Take a walk or find a natural playground that offers challenging elements such as changes in elevation, rocks, tree stumps and plants. These environments can provide children with the freedom to engage in activities of their own choosing, have positive impacts on health, behaviour and social development.
These spaces allow children the opportunity to develop skills such as climbing, jumping, running and balance. Through continued practice, children and their caregivers become more confident and knowledgeable about their own limits, while spending time together.
Visit outsideplay.ca to learn more about the health benefits of playing outside.
Tips and places to be active outdoors
- Continue to play as a family! Get outside and enjoy local parks, beaches, trails, tennis courts, and skating paths or rinks together.
- Encourage your children to participate in activities that are ground, water, ice and snow-based at different times of the year.
- Continue to encourage your children to engage in unstructured play with friends outdoors every day.
- Encourage your children to choose modes of active transportation to get to school.
Sources Int J Environ. Res. Public Health, Bussoni et al, 2012, 9(9), 3134-3148
This item was last modified on October 4, 2022