The Child Care Licensing Regulation survey is now open. This opportunity only comes along every 10 years, let your voice be heard.

In fall 2019, Get Outside and Play along with 18 leaders in the field created the Outdoor Play in Child Care Settings: Recommendations for Child Care Licensing in Alberta. The document lays out clear, evidence-supported changes that could be made to the licensing regulations that will give all children in child care settings access to quality outdoor playtime and spaces. If you have any questions or want to talk about this further, please contact me at christina@getoutsideandplay.ca or 403-998-4782.

I have also summarized the top three recommendations in a submission to the consultation process. You can see the three-page document here.

Take 30 minutes to respond to one of the surveys below.

Link to all the surveys.

Which survey should you respond to?

Parent Survey – currently parenting or if you  have a general interest in this topic.

Operator Survey – child care operator or a representative from a stakeholder organization.

Child Care Educator – qualified early childhood educators.

How to respond to this survey?

Not all the questions have a clear connection to outdoor play but here are a few ideas on where you can insert mention of outdoor play. I have broken down the three surveys and given you a few ideas on how to incorporate outdoor play, it by no means exhaustive, be creative!

Parent Survey

Q5. What does high quality child care look like?

  • Large outdoor spaces that allow children to play, explore and learn.
  • Engaging materials in the outdoor environment with a focus on natural items and loose parts.
  • Abundant time 1-2 hours of outdoor time to allow children to fully engage in play.
  • Educators which the knowledge and skills to guide children’s learning outdoors.
  • Strong connections with community spaces with opportunities for children to explore nearby nature, parks and gardens.

Q6. What expectations do you have when it comes to safety in a child care centre?

  • Safety includes children being able to explore their physical capabilities through active, energetic outdoor play. This is important for their development and confidence.
  • Educators who can confidently support children in a variety of outdoor environments within and beyond the fence of the child care centre.
  • Educators who can use a risk-benefit approach in supporting children in outdoor play experiences.

Q7. If you were looking for a particular program or support for your child, what challenges did you encounter, if any? (Examples include space for a child with a disability, language, or cultural programming)

  • Outdoor, nature-focused programs are mainly recreation programs and not licensed as child care programs. I was unable to find a program that fit my need for child care AND focused on outdoor nature play and learning.

Q8. What factors do you consider when choosing a child care provider?

  • Other – outdoor play space, abundant outdoor play time

Q9. Do you have anything else you would like to share about your experience with child care in Alberta?

  • Children belong outside where they are more physically active, connected to nature and develop community connections.
  • Outdoor Play in Child Care Settings: Recommendations for Child Care Licensing in Alberta lays out specific changes to ensure children have access to quality outdoor play spaces and time in child care settings. I support this document and would like to see these recommendations embedded in new regulations.
  • Please share your passion and observations about outdoor play here!

Operator

Q3. What regulations challenge your ability to deliver high quality child care? Please explain how.

  • The outdoor space requirement does not provide enough room for engaging outdoor play experiences for all children in the program.
  • Clear direction on amount of outdoor time would communicate with educators and parents the importance of outdoor play to quality child care.

Q5. What does high quality child care look like?

  • Large outdoor spaces that allow children to play, explore and learn.
  • Engaging materials in the outdoor environment with a focus on natural items and loose parts.
  • Abundant time 1-2 hours of outdoor time to allow children to fully engage in play.
  • Educators which the knowledge and skills to guide children’s learning outdoors.
  • Strong connections with community spaces with opportunities for children to explore nearby nature, parks and gardens.

Q.8 What ideas do you have to create efficiencies with other ministries or government entities (local and provincial)? (Operators)
(e.g., municipal development zoning requirements, coordinating health and fire inspections)

  • Municipal zoning often permits child care programs in spaces like strip malls and office towers that can have limited outdoor spaces and no nearby parks or nature. Municipal zoning needs to keep the full picture in mind when zoning for child care.
  • Programs often run into conflicting direction from Alberta Health Services and Licensing when it comes to elements in their outdoor spaces like appropriate loose parts, mud and gardens for example. Creating messages common to both agencies around outdoor spaces and play would reduce confusion.

Q9. To keep strengthening and building on what is in place, what else could be done within the regulation to increase safety for children in child care across Alberta?

  • Current regulations have not resulted in quality outdoor spaces for children. If licensing is the minimum requirement for safety, this is not being accomplished. Outdoor spaces are small, ill equipped and do not provide enough shade from the sun or protection from the wind.

Q12. Is there a current regulation that does not seem to work or make any sense for child care in Alberta?

  • Outdoor spaces only need to be big enough to accommodate 50% of the children in the program. We need spaces large enough so that all children in the program can have long periods of time outside. No other province has this restriction.

Q15. Please provide your input on how things like square footage requirements could be improved or streamlined, and outline how they’ve created barriers for your child care centre.

  • Our outdoor space requirements are the lowest in the country. Children need more space outside to be physically active and engage in a variety of play experiences. Children are not reaching their required physical activity most days and increasing the size of outdoor space would support more physical activity.

Q19. Do you have anything else you would like to share about your experience with child care in Alberta?

  • Children belong outside where they are more physically active, connected to nature and develop community connections.
  • Outdoor Play in Child Care Settings: Recommendations for Child Care Licensing in Alberta lays out specific changes to ensure children have access to quality outdoor play spaces and time in child care settings. I support this document and would like to see these recommendations embedded in new regulations.
  • Please share your passion and observations about outdoor play here!

Child Care Educators

Q3. What requirements within your job support or challenge your ability to deliver high quality child care? Please explain.

  • Our outdoor space requirements are the lowest in the country. Children need more space outside to be physically active and engage in a variety of play experiences. Children are not reaching their required physical activity most days and increasing the size of outdoor space would support more physical activity.
  • There is no required amount of outdoor time in the regulations. If this was included in the regulations it would communicate to educators and parents that outdoor play is essential for healthy child development.

Q6. Are there any additional requirements that would help you with the safety of kids?

  • Current regulations have not resulted in quality outdoor spaces for children. If licensing is the minimum requirement for safety, this is not being accomplished. Outdoor spaces are small, ill-equipped and do not provide enough shade from the sun or protection from the wind.

Q8. Is there a current regulation or process that does not seem to work or make any sense for child care in Alberta?

  • Outdoor spaces only need to be big enough to accommodate 50% of the children in the program. We need spaces large enough so that all children in the program can have long periods of time outside. No other province has this restriction.

Q11. Please provide your input on how things like square footage requirements for indoor or outdoor space could be improved or streamlined, and outline how they’ve created barriers for your child care centre.

  • Our outdoor space requirements are the lowest in the country. Children need more space outside to be physically active and engage in a variety of play experiences. Children are not reaching their required physical activity most days and increasing the size of outdoor space would support more physical activity.

Q12. From your perspective, are there any regulations that impact your day to day operations that you would like to see changed? (Ex. to accommodate breaks or program planning time, ratios, space, etc.)

  • We are unable to have all the children outside at the same time as we only require a space large enough for 50% of the children in the centre. This limits our ability to follow the needs and lead of the child as we need to rotate through using the outdoor space. Having space large enough for all the children with increase the quality of care.

Q14. Do you have anything else you would like to share about your experience with child care in Alberta?

  • Children belong outside where they are more physically active, connected to nature and develop community connections.
  • Outdoor Play in Child Care Settings: Recommendations for Child Care Licensing in Alberta lays out specific changes to ensure children have access to quality outdoor play spaces and time in child care settings. I support this document and would like to see these recommendations embedded in new regulations.
  • Please share your passion and observations about outdoor play here!