Announcements to stay at home during various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic sent mixed messages to parents across North America and the world. In the beginning stages, families took the message literally and locked themselves indoors. What did this do to the overall health of our children?

There are some important things to know about what to do when nature calls, in nature. 

It may seem odd that wildlife uses the outdoors as their outhouse and that humans should behave differently with their own waste, but there are a couple good explanations for this.

Halloweens Creepy Creatures. Many species get bad reputations – learning more about these spooky critters can help you channel your own inner creepy creature and understand the important roles they play. The more you learn, the more you’ll realize these animals aren’t so scary after all!

Whether you plan to venture to the city park, provincial park or national park, there are some basic safety tips everyone should know to help keep you and the family healthy, happy and make the most of your outdoor adventure!

If you plan to get outside and enjoy some hiking, you might be in an area where there are black bears, grizzlies or both. Black bears are prevalent across Canada (and the United States of America), while grizzly bears are found in Western Canada. How do you avoid an encounter with a bear and keep yourself safe? The first step is to understand bears and their behaviour. 

 

 

With Canada Day quickly approaching, we wanted to take some time to reflect on the wealth of our National Parks - coast to coast. These vast spaces of protected land are what makes Canada beautiful and unique. Here are some of the coolest facts we found that you may have not known about our parks. 

Natural navigation means orienting yourself and crossing a landscape without needing to rely on technology like maps, gps or compass. Developing natural navigational awareness can really help you get your bearings if you ever get lost - and it will make outdoor exploration more meaningful and exciting!

As a pediatrician, I spend a lot of my time counseling families on healthy lifestyle changes for both prevention and treatment of a variety of medical conditions.  Outdoor play has the potential to improve the health of Canadian children in many ways: by naturally reducing screen time, increasing physical activity, and providing opportunity for healthy parent-child relationship development. 

The world seems to be on pause, but we are inspired by the ways our Wild | Lifers are growing, exploring and staying connected in this difficult time.

The average number of hours parents spent with their children in 1985 was 8.5 hours for mothers and 3 hours for fathers. In 2010 the average hours spent with children increased to 13.7 hours for mothers and 7.2 hours for fathers. The quantity of time we spend with our children is increasing but what about the quality of that time? Are we developing connections and creating family memories like we used to?

Many families and schools are approaching March break and with travel restrictions in place, it’s left many of us feeling a little stressed and a little couped-up.However, as we continue to hear about closures, the outdoors remain wide open. Here are a few tips we’ve come up with to make the most of some extra time at home.