<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate what attracts children to activity and movement on the playground in a central and municipal preschool in a town located in middle of Sweden. The method was to use a qualitative group interview with five children, two girls and three boys, at the age of five. The interview consisted of a general question about what kids think is fun to do on the playground and was complemented with follow-up questions depending on what the children said. A qualitative interview with a preschool teacher and observations were carried out in the hope that they would confirm what children claimed about play and movement. This study showed a gender difference when girls like to swing together while the boys are making the swinging for a contest. Climbing frames of various kinds, and slides were other popular objects on the preschool yard. The girls think it´s fun to climb, slide and to build their own climbing with other children, while the boys placed great emphasis on challenges. The interview with the preschool teacher and the observation was verified what the children claimed in the group interview and also showed that the nature often attract children to movement because of curiosity. The conclusion of the study may be that girls are looking for social interaction in which they may use their knowledge and skills, while boys like to challenge themselves to get confirmation. Therefore, the big activity patterns in these children can be a result of a good and well planned playground. For further research it would be interesting, from a gender perspective, to explore how color and art can attract children to activity and movement on the playground.</p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate what attracts children to activity and movement on the playground in a central and municipal preschool in a town located in middle of Sweden. The method was to use a qualitative group interview with five children, two girls and three boys, at the age of five. The interview consisted of a general question about what kids think is fun to do on the playground and was complemented with follow-up questions depending on what the children said. A qualitative interview with a preschool teacher and observations were carried out in the hope that they would confirm what children claimed about play and movement. This study showed a gender difference when girls like to swing together while the boys are making the swinging for a contest. Climbing frames of various kinds, and slides were other popular objects on the preschool yard. The girls think it´s fun to climb, slide and to build their own climbing with other children, while the boys placed great emphasis on challenges. The interview with the preschool teacher and the observation was verified what the children claimed in the group interview and also showed that the nature often attract children to movement because of curiosity. The conclusion of the study may be that girls are looking for social interaction in which they may use their knowledge and skills, while boys like to challenge themselves to get confirmation. Therefore, the big activity patterns in these children can be a result of a good and well planned playground. For further research it would be interesting, from a gender perspective, to explore how color and art can attract children to activity and movement on the playground.