Scoping review of children’s and youth’s outdoor play publications in Canada

Abstract

Introduction Since 2015, interest in the benefits of outdoor play for physical, emotional, social and environmental health, well-being and development has been growing in Canada and elsewhere. Methods This scoping review aims to answer the question, “How, and in what context, is children’s and youth’s outdoor play being studied in Canada?” Included were studies of any type on outdoor play published after September 2015 in English or French by authors from Canadian institutions or assessing Canadian children and/or youth. Articles retrieved from MEDLINE, CINAHL and Scopus by March 2021 were organized according to eight priority areas: health, well-being and development; outdoor play environments; safety and outdoor play; cross-sectoral connections; equity, diversity and inclusion; professional development; Indigenous Peoples and land-based outdoor play; and COVID-19. Within each priority, study design and measurement method were tallied. Results Of the 275 articles included, the most common priority area was health, wellbeing and development (n = 239). The least common priority areas were COVID-19 (n = 9) and Indigenous Peoples and land-based outdoor play (n = 14). Cross-sectional studies were the most common; the least common were rapid reviews. Sample sizes varied from one parent’s reflections to 999 951 data points from health databases. More studies used subjective than objective measurement methods. Across priorities, physical health was the most examined outcome, and mental/emotional development the least. Conclusion A wealth of knowledge on outdoor play in Canada has been produced since 2015. Further research is needed on the relationship between outdoor play and mental/emotional development among children and youth.

Scoping review of adult-oriented outdoor play publications in Canada

“…As for our scoping review on children's and youth's outdoor play, 8 the number of articles published on adult-oriented outdoor play in Canada over the past 7 years and included in this review is remarkable compared to other reviews on Canadian leisure research from past years. 47 The COVID-19 pandemic led to a pattern of reengaging with the outdoors for safe social gatherings, the health benefit and, more simply, as "something to do" in the face of pandemic-related restrictions.…”

“…The methods for this systematic scoping review have been described in detail in an article on child-and youth-oriented outdoor play. 8 Briefly, we followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines 9 (checklist available on request from the authors). We also used the…”

“…Three reviewers met weekly during the extraction phase to discuss any uncertainties and ensure standardization of the extraction protocol and to agree upon any amendments to the data extraction form (adapted from de Lannoy et al 8 ), for example, if new outcomes had emerged.…”

“…; n = 12; 4%); the full-text could not be located (n = 4; 1%); or they were not published in either English or French (n = 1; <1%). For the full review, 447 articles were deemed relevant; 223 articles that focussed solely on children/youth underwent a separate scoping review, 8 and 224 articles that focussed on adultoriented outdoor play were included in this scoping review.…”

“…Accordingly, the outdoor play environments priority was the more common focus of studies on adult-oriented outdoor play, whereas health, well-being and development was the primary focus in the scoping review on children's and youth's outdoor play. 8 Similarly, environmental health (e.g. proenvironmental leisure activity, behaviour and/or stewardship), was the most common outcome studies of adult-oriented outdoor play examined, while in children and youth this was physical health (see Supplementary Table 2; https://osf.io/46yfx).…”