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Do you know a child who loves to stomp in the mud, look under rocks to see what crawly creatures might be living underneath or challenge themselves to walk the tightrope of a fallen log?

Children will have a unique opportunity to express their creativity and engage their sense of wonder at an upcoming outdoor playday on Saturday, March 5 from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. at AV����’s Kelowna campus.

The outdoor play day is being hosted by AV���� in collaboration with Bow Valley College, Saskatchewan Polytechnic, New Brunswick Community College, and the University of Fraser Valley as part of an ongoing research project funded by the Lawson Foundation.

Children will have the opportunity to discover and explore playing with loose parts – a trending concept in the world of unstructured outdoor play. Feedback will be gathered from children and their families throughout the session on the types of materials, activities and spaces they prefer.

“Research shows that when children visit traditional play spaces, they spend about six minutes on the play equipment,” says Dr. Beverlie Dietze, Director of Learning and Applied Research at AV����. “They spend more time playing with the gravel and the items that are underneath the play apparatus.”

“With a natural play space, children will spend as much time as you allow them. There are options for them to pick up rocks and look at the bugs underneath. They can challenge themselves to balance on a tree stump or walk the length of a log,” added Dietze. “The play opportunities are open and expansive. When you add in man-made materials, called ‘loose-parts,’ then all of those pieces require the child to do something, to actively engage in the play.”

The outdoor play day will take place in the courtyard at AV����’s Kelowna campus, located at 1000 KLO Rd. Contact outdoorplay@okanagan.bc.ca to register for this free event.