!Families Canada and the National Family Support Network are hosting a webinar on the benefits of play and outdoor play. The webinar will introduce and promote the importance of play in family support, particularly outdoor play. The webinar will feature a presentation from internationally renowned outdoor play expert Dr. Mariana Brussoni and introduce Families Canada’s programs and resources related to play.

Dr. Mariana Brussoni is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and an investigator with the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the BC Injury Research & Prevention Unit. Dr. Brussoni conducts research on children’s outdoor and risky play, adult attitudes related to children’s risk taking and safety, and designing supportive outdoor play environments.

The webinar will cover:

· What is play and why is it important to children and their families?

· Positive and measurable effects of outdoor activities on educational performance and achievements, health, well-being, social and personal development

· Opportunities to connect children to nature in an urbanized world; How to use urban outdoor spaces as a resource for inspiring a more active lifestyle and to stimulate physical literacy

· Why outdoor play is even more important during COVID-19

*please note this webinar will be held in English

Register here

With support from the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Support Fund and the Ottawa Community Foundation, we will be offering an online focus group (in English) to provide Ottawa-based family support centres with the opportunity to express their TVIA experiences and needs. This focus group will help us to tailor our upcoming training webinar to the specific TVIA needs of Ottawa-based family support centres. The focus group will be in English. 

 REGISTER 

 Learn more about our new TVIA initiative here