Do you remember being called inside for dinner — reluctantly, dirty-kneed, and breathless from a full afternoon outside? For many of today’s children, that experience is becoming rare. And according to the research, that’s a problem we can no longer afford to ignore.
In a recent episode of the ShiftEd Podcast, host Chris Colley sat down with Dr. Louise de Lannoy, Executive Director of Outdoor Play Canada, for a wide-ranging conversation on why outdoor, unstructured play is one of the most important — and undervalued — ingredients in healthy child development.
The Evidence Is Clear: Risk Is Not the Enemy
The conversation traces back to a landmark 2015 position statement co-developed by researchers, educators, and 14 organizations across Canada. After two systematic reviews and input from over 1,600 stakeholders, the consensus was definitive: outdoor play, with its risks, is essential for healthy child development.
That statement wasn’t just academic — it helped overturn a BC Supreme Court case in which a municipality was being sued after a child was injured on a playground. The position statement was introduced as social fact evidence. The message was clear: keeping kids safe doesn’t mean keeping them inside.
By 2024, the Canadian Pediatric Society — an organization that had originally hesitated to sign the 2015 statement — released its own position paper affirming the essential importance of risky outdoor play, noting that even broken bones fall within an acceptable level of risk.
So What Happened? Unpacking the Barriers
Screen time gets blamed most often, but de Lannoy offers a more nuanced picture. Research from Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation suggests that children want to go outside and hang out with friends — they simply lack the social structures that make it possible. The only space where many kids can socialize unsupervised? Their phones.
Key Barriers to Outdoor Play
- Social judgment of parents who allow children to roam freely
- Erosion of neighborhood trust and community connection
- Over-scheduling and “helicopter” parenting culture
- Cities designed for cars, not children
- Disproportionate risk for families from minority communities
The barriers are layered and systemic. Streets designed for traffic rather than children. Neighbors who don’t know each other. A cultural shift where letting your child roam the block is seen as neglect rather than freedom. As de Lannoy puts it, society has erected “layers upon layers” that make outdoor independence feel impossible — even when parents want it for their kids.
Reasons for Optimism
Despite the challenges, de Lannoy sees real momentum. Canada recently updated its global position statement in 2025. The Community Foundations of Canada has committed $32 million through the Free-to-Play initiative to support active outdoor and risky play in communities nationwide. Teachers in BC and the Yukon are piloting risky play programs with full administrator buy-in. Even Quebec’s Premier pushed back against overly restrictive insurance rules governing snow mounds on school grounds.
The shift often starts small. A 20-minute outdoor session. A teacher who steps outside for the first time and never looks back. Educators who’ve tried it overwhelmingly report the same thing: once you get outside, the children engage more, the energy is better, and the cleanup is easier — no acorns to sweep off classroom floors.
“Just get outside. Step one.”
— Dr. Louise de Lannoy
For educators and school leaders ready to take that first step, Outdoor Play Canada offers resources at every level of readiness — from introductory guides to full curriculum frameworks for integrating risky play into schools. The tools are there. The evidence is there. Now it’s about culture.
What Educators Can Do Today
You don’t need a forest school or a major budget to start. Make a plan, set an intention, and take 20–30 minutes outside. Let kids climb, dig, and negotiate risks on their own terms. The research is on your side — and so are a growing number of administrators, policymakers, and parents who are rediscovering what we somehow forgot: that children thrive when they’re free to play.
Learn More & Get Resources
Visit Outdoor Play Canada for evidence-based tools, position statements, and community resources to bring outdoor play back to your school or neighbourhood.
