Play is inarguably an important part of human development. Through play, children as young as three years of age learn social skills and values that will form the foundation of their development in to adult life. Children can be excluded from play for many reasons. Any visible or cognitive differences in a child can cause them to be marginalized in playgroups or daycares and later in their development, at school and camps. This makes it difficult for them to experience the types of play that are so important to their healthy development. This thesis examines the existing standards for accessible design, finding the contradictions in the information available, and exposing the gaps of information that make it impossible for designers to create truly inclusive play spaces for children. Collaboration with Camp Trillium, one of the foremost pediatric oncology camp programs in Ontario, will be a useful tool for gaining insight into the healing powers of inclusive play experiences for children. The product of this thesis will be the design of a system for creating inclusive play spaces that will allow children who have been marginalized by disabilities and illness to play freely with others. These fully-inclusive play spaces will aim to foster a new understanding of inclusivity in children; teaching those without distinguishing differences the value of relationships with people of differing challenges, and instilling in marginalized children a sense of self that helps them develop the confidence and social ability to penetrate the boundaries that have been inflicted on them.

Play is inarguably an important part of human development. Through play, children as young as three years of age learn social skills and values that will form the foundation of their development in to adult life. Children can be excluded from play for many reasons. Any visible or cognitive differences in a child can cause them to be marginalized in playgroups or daycares and later in their development, at school and camps. This makes it difficult for them to experience the types of play that are so important to their healthy development. This thesis examines the existing standards for accessible design, finding the contradictions in the information available, and exposing the gaps of information that make it impossible for designers to create truly inclusive play spaces for children. Collaboration with Camp Trillium, one of the foremost pediatric oncology camp programs in Ontario, will be a useful tool for gaining insight into the healing powers of inclusive play experiences for children. The product of this thesis will be the design of a system for creating inclusive play spaces that will allow children who have been marginalized by disabilities and illness to play freely with others. These fully-inclusive play spaces will aim to foster a new understanding of inclusivity in children; teaching those without distinguishing differences the value of relationships with people of differing challenges, and instilling in marginalized children a sense of self that helps them develop the confidence and social ability to penetrate the boundaries that have been inflicted on them.

In the context of the global trend towards urban densification, the space and quality of public outdoor play for children are declining. Malmö, the third-largest city of Sweden, is now facing such a problem. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of a themed playground (Rörsjöparken) in the city of Malmö on young children's play from a design perspective and to propose recommendations for optimizing this play space based on children's ideas in order to promote playful learning and optimal child development. Using affordance theory, this study analyses the impact of play space on children's interaction and use of space. It also explores how children's ideas can be organically integrated into the design and contribute to children's development through the application of a mosaic approach and the concept of the Urban Play Framework. The results showed that children could engage in more diverse types of play in natural spaces than in manufactured equipment spaces. The article recommends that designers incorporate four factors when assessing the quality of a play space in the early stages of design. These factors are: whether the play environment has 1. rich natural features, 2. suitable play equipment for children's abilities and physical conditions, 3. stimulating elements, and 4. high-quality parent-child interaction. Future studies are needed to explore approaches that can effectively consult children in large public outdoor play areas and investigate how to improve the children's play environment in winter.

Syftet med den här studien var att ta reda på om barns lekar påverkas om lekutrymmet är begränsat. Jag blev nyfiken på den här frågan eftersom den förskola som jag arbetar på har haft tillgång till en förskolebuss i cirka två år nu. För att få svar på mina frågeställningar så använde jag mig av kvalitativa observationer på den förskolebuss som jag arbetar på. De frågeställningar som genomsyrar arbetet är. Hur påverkas barns lek när lekutrymmet är begränsat? Hur påverkar barnens kamratrelationer när lekutrymmet är begränsat och vilka konsekvenser får det för leken? Hur påverkas valet av material när lekutrymmet är begränsat och vilka konsekvenser får det för leken? Det resultatet som visades i studien var att barnen blir påverkade av att utrymmet är begränsat. Men eftersom barnen är väldigt kreativa så hittar dem på egna lösningar som gör att de kan leka i begränsade utrymmena. Barnen ligger i mittgången på förskolebussen med huvudet och händerna inne i kojan eller så står de i en soffa och leker för de har kommit underfund med att det blir mer plats att leka på. När det gäller kamratrelationer så kan man se att barnen upptäcker andra kompisar att leka med på förskolebussen än vad de brukar göra på förskolan. / The purpose of this study was to find out if children`s play is affected if the spece play is limited. I was curious about this question since the preschool I work at now has had access to a preschool bus for about two years. To answer my questions I used qualitative observations on the preschool bus. The questions that permeate th work are: How are the children play affected when the play spac is limited? How is children affected when space of play is limited and what consequences does it have for the play? how is the choice of material positively affected when the space of play is limited and what are consequences to the play? The results shown in the study are that the children are affected if the space for play is limited. But since children are very creative, they come up with own solutions that make it possible to play in the limited space. The children lie on the center aisle of the preschool bus with their heads and hands inside the hut or they stand on one sofa and play because they found out that it creates more space for play. When it comes to friendships you can see that the children discover other friends to play with at the preschool bus than they usually do at the actual preschool.