What is Outdoor Play?

The role of the Outdoor Play Working Group is to encourage, inspire and expand opportunities for Outdoor Play, Risky Play, Active Play and Nature Play. Each of these is essential to healthy childhood development!

Mission & Context

SaskOutdoor in partnership with the Government of Saskatchewan support the Outdoor Play Working Group. The purpose of the Outdoor Play Working Group is to identify and lead action toward identified goals that impact outdoor play in Saskatchewan. A group of volunteers including reps from SaskOutdoors, the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association (SPRA) and volunteers work to increase outdoor play in Saskatchewan.

Definitions

PLAY

Voluntary engagement in activity that is fun and/or rewarding and usually driven by intrinsic motivation.

ACTIVE PLAY

Play that involves physical activity of any intensity.

FREE PLAY

Play that is unstructured and self-directed

NATURE PLAY

Play that takes place in a natural environment and/or involves interaction with natural elements and features.

RISKY PLAY

A form of play that is thrilling and exciting, which involves uncertainty, unpredictability, and varying degrees of risk-taking. Risky play can look really different for different children, depending on children’s capabilities and comfort levels.

OUTDOOR PLAY

Play that takes place outdoors, where the outdoors is defined as any open-air, wild, natural, or human-made space. Outdoor recreation is a specific form of outdoor play.