filed under: Play Research

OPAL Teacher Tool

Data collected from Megan’s dissertation research ultimately supported the design of a FREE outdoor play and learning (OPAL) tool for elementary school teachers. The tool was developed as a digital colleague and curated by experienced Canadian elementary school teachers who locate their curricular learning out of doors. Designed under the leadership of the Play Outside Lab at the University of British Columbia, and supported by BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, this tool was developed by teachers for teachers. Teachers who review the tool are invited to deepen their understanding of the importance of outdoor risky play in schools, how to get started with outdoor play and learning in schools, and how to assess emergent learning for reporting purposes.

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Links below are specific to recommended resources from each module interview. Experts in outdoor play and learning have been interviewed in their particular area of practical expertise. Speaker series videos in this tool serve as a companion resource to the overview videos and can be found under the resources tab in each module. Click on the ‘watch interview’ button to go directly to the module. Please contact Megan if you notice links are no longer working. If your organization or school district has a quality resource that is FREE for teachers and relevant to a particular module, you can message me here with a description of the resource to review.

Module Resources

Outdoor Play and Learning in Schools

Module 1: What is Risky Outdoor Play with Dr. Mariana Brussoni

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Resources and research shared:

Sandseter, E. B. H. (2009). Characteristics of risky play. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 9(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729670802702762

Encyclopedia of Early Child Development: Article on Outdoor Play

Barnes, J. D., Cameron, C., Carson, V., Chaput, J. P., Colley, R. C., Faulkner, G. E. J., Janssen, I., Kramers, R., Saunders, T. J., Spence, J. C., Tucker, P., Vanderloo, L. M., & Tremblay, M. S. (2018). Results from Canada’s 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Journal of physical activity & health, 15(S2), S328–S330. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2018-0454

Prevalence of Obesity graphs- NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (2017).

Acosta-Cazares, B., Acuin, C., Aekplakorn, W., Al-Hazzaa, H. M., Aly, E., Anderssen, S. A., Ängquist, L. H., Bamoshmoosh, M., Barkat, A., Benedics, J., Bennett, J. E., Bernabe-Ortiz, A., Blokstra, A., Boeing, H., Bonaccio, M., Bruno, G., Cardoso, V. C., Chaturvedi, N., Cheng, C., . . . NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC). (2017). Worldwide trends in body-mass index, underweight, overweight, and obesity from 1975 to 2016: A pooled analysis of 2416 population-based measurement studies in 128·9 million children, adolescents, and adults. The Lancet (British Edition), 390(10113), 2627-2642. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32129-3