In this research, concept of play and types of outdoor playgrounds were explored in the light of the relevant literature. A field study was conducted in order to determine the attributes of traditional type playground equipment in children&amp / #8217 / s developmental needs. KurtuluS Park of Ankara was determined as the research area whereas, 70 children, aged between 6 to 12, were randomly selected and observed. Data on age, sex, favourite type of playground equipment and play behaviour of the child were collected by means of an observation sheet. A short interview with the child was also conducted after the observation session. Collected data were encoded, analyzed and interpretted by using Pearson&amp / #8217 / s Chi-square Test and Fisher&amp / #8217 / s Exact Chi-square Test with 95% ( &amp / #945 / = 0.05 ) confidence intervals. The results of the field study revealed that today&amp / #8217 / s playgrounds have little value in terms of play. Limitations of fixed playground equipment directly affect children&amp / #8217 / s developmental needs. The findings of the research study indicates that traditional type play structures support physical and social development of the child to a certain extent. However, this kind of equipment do not foster cognitive and emotional development of children.

Children’s active outdoor play (AOP) is an unstructured physical activity that takes place outdoors during a child’s free time. Despite its association with health and well-being benefits (e.g. increases levels of physical activity, improves psychosocial skills), growing evidence suggests that children are playing less outdoors in comparison to previous generations (Clements, 2004; Witten et al., 2013). This trend is generating a number of studies aiming to examine its decline. Parents, especially mothers, are identified as significant actors in increasing children’s opportunities for AOP in order to prevent adverse health and developmental outcomes. Although parents have an important role in socializing children to leading healthy lifestyles, few studies have documented their difficulties in providing children with opportunities for AOP. Drawing on a Foucauldian approach, this qualitative study focuses on the social, cultural, and structural factors that shape children’s opportunities for AOP within the family context and examines the salient factors of contemporary motherhood that impact children’s AOP. Twenty-one mothers from the Ottawa-Gatineau region took part in an in-depth semistructured interview. The analysis shows that many aspects of contemporary mothering and the multiple roles occupied by mothers make it difficult to provide opportunities for AOP. A key finding is that mothers struggle to prioritize children’s AOP due to discursive conflicts that stem from their roles as risk managers, time managers, and screen time managers. Results provide crucial data for future initiatives aimed at increasing children’s levels of physical activity within a family setting. By focusing on the lived experiences of mothers, this study provides recommendations to promote AOP despite the challenges of contemporary family life.

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, South Africa, 2012. / This study investigated: [a] the ways in which Foundation Phase educators promoted indoor and outdoor play for their learners; [b] which play activities the foundation phase educators valued most and what educational benefits they associated with these play activities; and [c] which play activities were valued most by foundation phase learners and the educational benefits they associated with these play activities. The study was based on the “mixed methods” (blended) research paradigm, involving the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data from focus group interviews and a semi-structured questionnaire. Information from the educators was collected by way of a questionnaire comprising both structured and non-structured sections. Quantitative data were analysed by the use of Microsoft Office Excel, while qualitative information collected from the interviews with the learners was analysed qualitatively. Altogether, seventy-two (72) and thirty-two (32) foundation phase educators and learners, respectively, participated in the study. These were drawn from former Model C, township and rural schools. On the first research question dealing with the promotion of play, the educator respondents reported that they promoted numeracy through (a) the use of market stands and playing shop (using Rands, litres, and centimetres); (b) play activities involving bean bags – to promote counting; (c) providing opportunities for learners to play with building blocks as counters; (d) playing mathematics games – e.g., touching eyes, ears, knees and legs to promote counting in twos; (e) the use of number games, flash cards and counting blocks to promote the creation of number patterns; (f) games, such as running using sacks, putting water in water bottles, using heavy and light objects, short and long objects – to develop the concept of measurement; and (g) giving learners opportunities to actively take part in number rhymes and songs which promoted the development of measurement concepts. Plays were also used in the teaching / learning of literacy through strategies that included story-telling, role-playing, rhymes and singing, as well as dialogue; learners taking turns in playing games; learners drawing pictures about song or rhymes; learners imitating animal sounds, word matching games and acting out stories; word games, phonic wheels, reading games; making letters with dough; alphabet story, such as Sammy snake, fireman Fred. In promoting life skills through play, the educators reported using weaving, kneading and pretence play / role playing; matching different types of foods, charts, stories and story-telling; activities around environmental management; plays calling for help; painting, colouring, handwork; music; thinking and reasoning games; plays involving rendering sympathy and empathy to others; poems- on how to cross the road. On the second research question, the educator respondents reported that play was important for developing learners’ cognitive, social, motor, language and inter-personal skills. Furthermore, the educators reported that play enabled learners to (a) expand their imagination, (b) become more emotionally mature, (c) enhance their state of school readiness, (d) develop social skills, (e) develop initiative, (f) build and enhance their autonomy and sense of self, (g) take risks, (h) reveal their personalities, and (i) develop self-confidence and self-esteem.. On the third and final research question, the respondents reported that they liked playing with wire cars, hide and seek, wooden cars, soccer, playing domino games, puzzles, snakes and ladders, with water and sand, making necklaces, playing with wooden blocks, tyre racing, climbing on the jungle gym, colouring and painting. playing house, netball, tuck, dolls, blocks, laptops, playing games on touch, hockey, rugby, cycling, ski-boarding, ludo, rugby, athletics, amagenda, arigogo, hop scotch, umlabalaba. The discussion of the results of this study showed that the findings fell in line with the literature review. Recommendations for classroom practice, curriculum planning and implementation, as well as further research have been made.

Children’s outdoor play is decreasing. One factor is children's increased use of technology. Contributing to an existing research project, Hållbara Lekmiljöer i Staden by Uppsala University and KTH, the aim of this research project is to investigate the potential role technology could play in children’s outdoor play if integrated within outdoor environments. A further aim of the project is to understand how children use and repurpose (appropriate) their surroundings for play, and whether evidence of one child's play can influence a future child’s play. After a review of relevant literature and previous work, the project conducted a workshop to understand how children conduct outdoor play. Through analysing the behaviours and activities of the children during this workshop (obtained via observations and interviews), three play patterns involving natural materials emerged. These include collecting materials, constructing structures using the materials, and destroying materials. The former two, alongside appropriation and technology, became themes for ideation and inspired the design process, which ultimately produced The Drum. The Drum is a digital-physical play artefact that allows children to create patterns based on their combination and types of touch interactions. Children used the technology to facilitate their play, successful appropriations due to three design features: a recognisable output medium, portability, and small design. However, these features were unable to influence future play and behaviour due to the lack of development of The Drum and the research setup. Therefore, further development of The Drum and a better research setup are suggested as actions for future work.

No description available.

<p>Syftet med mitt examensarbete var att undersöka, om det finns något samband mellan förskolegårdens utformning och barns utveckling. Litteraturgenomgången i bakgrunden ger en klar bild av förskolegårdens och utomhuspedagogikens betydelse. Utomhusvistelsen påverkar hela kroppen, både psykiskt och fysiskt enligt Szczepanski (2007). Jag gjorde en kvantitativ undersökning, om hur pedagoger ser på sin utemiljö. Sexton förskollärare från tre olika förskolor fick min enkät. Resultatet av min undersökning ger en samstämmig bild av, hur förskolegården kan användas till både lek och lärande. Gårdens utformning är viktig, och det bör finnas en rik variation av lekmaterial. Många pedagoger betonar att barnen utvecklar motorik, samspel, empati och respekt under utevistelsen. Eftersom min undersökning gäller endast tre förskolor, kan det diskuteras, i vilken grad resultaten kan generaliseras. Dock är samstämmigheten så stor i svaren från förskolorna, att pedagogernas uppfattningar om förskolegårdens betydelse och möjligheter troligtvis gäller även övriga förskolor i landet.</p> / <p>The purpose of my study was to examine, whether there is any connection between the preschool yard’s design and child development. Literature review in the background provides the importance of the yard and outdoor education. Outdoor stay affects the whole body both mentally and physically under Szczepanski (2008). I did a quantitative study on how teachers view their outdoor environments. Sixteen preschool teachers from three preschools got my survey. The result of my study gives a unanimous picture of, how the preschool yard can be used for both playing and learning. The design of the yard is important, and there should be a rich variety of toymaterials. Many educators stress that children develop motoric skills, interaction, empathy and respect during the outdoor play. Since my study is based on just three preschools, the results possibly can’t be generalized. However, the answers from the preschools are nearly unanimous, and the result is probably valid all over the country.</p>

Syftet med mitt examensarbete var att undersöka, om det finns något samband mellan förskolegårdens utformning och barns utveckling. Litteraturgenomgången i bakgrunden ger en klar bild av förskolegårdens och utomhuspedagogikens betydelse. Utomhusvistelsen påverkar hela kroppen, både psykiskt och fysiskt enligt Szczepanski (2007). Jag gjorde en kvantitativ undersökning, om hur pedagoger ser på sin utemiljö. Sexton förskollärare från tre olika förskolor fick min enkät. Resultatet av min undersökning ger en samstämmig bild av, hur förskolegården kan användas till både lek och lärande. Gårdens utformning är viktig, och det bör finnas en rik variation av lekmaterial. Många pedagoger betonar att barnen utvecklar motorik, samspel, empati och respekt under utevistelsen. Eftersom min undersökning gäller endast tre förskolor, kan det diskuteras, i vilken grad resultaten kan generaliseras. Dock är samstämmigheten så stor i svaren från förskolorna, att pedagogernas uppfattningar om förskolegårdens betydelse och möjligheter troligtvis gäller även övriga förskolor i landet. / The purpose of my study was to examine, whether there is any connection between the preschool yard’s design and child development. Literature review in the background provides the importance of the yard and outdoor education. Outdoor stay affects the whole body both mentally and physically under Szczepanski (2008). I did a quantitative study on how teachers view their outdoor environments. Sixteen preschool teachers from three preschools got my survey. The result of my study gives a unanimous picture of, how the preschool yard can be used for both playing and learning. The design of the yard is important, and there should be a rich variety of toymaterials. Many educators stress that children develop motoric skills, interaction, empathy and respect during the outdoor play. Since my study is based on just three preschools, the results possibly can’t be generalized. However, the answers from the preschools are nearly unanimous, and the result is probably valid all over the country.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the attitudes of parents toward outdoor environments and their children spending time outdoors, and how these attitudes related to their children's overall health. The sample for this study consisted of parents of six to thirteen year old children from the U.S., who accessed the survey from the Aggie Horticulture homepage between March and August 2009. Surveys were collected until 142 completed questionnaires were received. The online questionnaire included questions about parents' attitude toward nature; their children playing outdoors, play site rating, and children's overall health and demographic questions. Descriptive statistics were used to tabulate mean scores on the Parental Attitude About Nature Scale, and Parental Attitude About Their Children Spending Time Outdoors Scale, both of which indicated overall positive views. Pearson's product-moment correlations indicated statistically significant relationships between the Parental Attitude About Nature Scale, and Parental Attitude About Their Children Spending Time Outdoors Scale (P=0.001), and between these two scales and time children spent outdoors (P=0.008, P=0.05). No correlation existed between Parental Attitude About Their Children Spending Time Outdoors score and the Health Problems score (P=0.459). Also, there were statistically significant relationships between time spent indoors on video games or watching TV and health problems of children (r=+0.182, P=0.031), congestion (r=+0.192, P=0.023), and children having trouble sleeping (r=+0.237, P=0.005); asthma attacks and with the time spent in indoor organized sports (r=+0.274, P=0.001) and outdoor organized sports (r=+0.177, P=0.036). Additionally, time spent outdoors in free play was negatively correlated with body pain or discomfort (r=-0.219, P=0.009), repeated upset stomach (r=-0.179, P=0.034), or feeling tired or having low energy (r=-0.289, P=0.001). In regards to play areas a post-hoc analysis (Tukey's HSD) revealed that all the outdoor play scene pictures had statistically significantly higher mean scores in ratings of approval by parents (P=0.001) when compared to the indoor play area and that the outdoor scene picture with the black hardtop surface had a statistically significantly lower mean score (P=0.001) than the other outdoor play scene pictures. This indicated that, in general, parents preferred play areas with a greater amount of natural elements.

There is a concern that children are deprived of opportunities for responding to challenges and exploring risky situations in outdoor play. Children are not afforded the chance to be challenged by risky, yet safe situations. Exposing children to risky activities is valuable but one should be conscious about children’s safety and therefore find the balance between hazardous situations and healthy risky experiences (Eager & Little, 2011:s.p.). Discouraging risky play has detrimental effects on children’s development which may hinder their functioning in school and later in life. Risky play opportunities are therefore essential to develop children’s confidence, self-esteem, autonomy and independence, as well as their problem solving and risk management skills. Therefore, parents and teachers in this study must empower children to engage in risky play. For caregivers to create opportunities to develop such skills at early learning centres, they must know and be conscious of the advantages of risky play for children’s development. Positive attitudes towards the implementation of risky outdoor play and adequate support are required from parents. Hence, the purpose of this study was to gain knowledge of parents and teachers’ experiences and views about risky outdoor play; what prevents or supports teachers and parents from permitting risky outdoor play; and how the outdoor learning environment provides opportunities for risky play. This study was underpinned by Barbara Rogoff’s sociocultural theory, which lays emphasis on how children cultivate knowledge by interacting with the social environment (Rogoff, 2008). The primary research question that guided this study is: How do parents and teachers experience and view risky outdoor play in early learning centres? This study employed a qualitative approach and is positioned within the interpretivist paradigm. A multiple case study design was utilised and aligned with the researcher’s goal of exploring and describing the views of parents and teachers on risky outdoor play. The study consisted of eight preschool teachers and seven parents from three different early learning centres, who shared their experiences and views of risky play. Data were generated from teachers by means of semi-structured group interviews, observations of teachers and children during outdoor play and document analysis entailing teachers’ daily planning of outdoor activities. Online semi-structured individual interview schedules were utilised to generate data from parents. The findings of the study show that both parents and teachers perceive risky play as imperative for children’s development. Furthermore, the constraints affecting children’s opportunities to participate in risky activities and the concerns thereof were outlined. Finally, the study identifies challenges that parents and teachers experience when implementing risky play, although both parents and teachers support and permit risky outdoor play at the early learning centres, as well as in the home environment. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted

This study intends to investigate Greek preschool teachers' perspectives about play in the schoolyard. Ten preschool teachers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach to gather data. Results were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. The themes that were brought up revealed that Greek preschool teachers value play in the schoolyard. This study found that the teachers think there is a relation between play in the schoolyard and learning since they believe playing outside is a type of experiential learning. Moreover, they think that this relation can be more potent if teachers get involved more by organizing activities, and if the sense of place is increased to students. Furthermore, the Greek preschool teachers agree that play in the schoolyard has only positive effects on children's wellbeing. The barriers to facilitate outdoor play appear to be the schoolyard since they describe it as unsafe, empty, without any green elements, and missing pedagogical corners. Considering the Greek educational context that predominantly focus on the traditional inside the classroom teaching, the possitve attitudes that the preschool teachers showed for outdoor play are remarkable. These attitudes are a little step for further implementation of outdoor play in preschool education.