Play behavior became more frequent and varied after schoolyard greeningMultiple studies support the idea that greening a schoolyard encourages more varied play behavior among school-aged children. Few such studies, however, have directly examined changes in play behavior of school children after schoolyard greening. This study addressed this concern by comparing children’s play and non-play behavior during recess before and after schoolyard greening at five primary schools in The Netherlands.
Video recordings of children’s outdoor behavior during recess at the five participating schools were made before and after schoolyard greening. Prior to greening, all schoolyards were entirely paved and featured various types of manufactured play equipment. While the five schools worked from different designs in greening their outdoor play areas, they all added at least one natural feature inviting exploration and movement from one place to another. Most schools also added some form of vegetation, such as trees and shrubs. Video recordings were made on one day in 2014 prior to the schoolyard greening and one day in 2016 after the greening. The recordings occurred approximately the same period each year, with the weather being dry and warm each time. Multiple cameras were used during the recording process to cover different segments (target areas) of the schoolyard. There were 50 target areas for the first recording and 66 for the second. Recordings were made during 15-minute recesses during which the children were allowed to play freely in the schoolyard. The first recording involved 352 children who were 7 to 11 years old at the time; the second included 325 children who were 7 - 11 years old at that time. The cognitive play categories and non-play categories of the Play Observation Scale (Rubin, 2001) were used in coding the children’s recorded behaviors. Categories of cognitive play consisted of functional play (use of objects as intended), games -with-rules, and constructive, dramatic and exploratory play.
Results showed a significant increase in children’s cognitive play behavior and a decrease in non-play behavior after greening of the schoolyards, with the change being greater for girls than boys. Prior to greening, girls engaged primarily in non-play behavior. After greening, they spent most of their time during recess engaged in some form of play. Results also showed that children’s play behavior became more varied after greening. Games-with-rules increased the most after greening; functional play the least. There were increases in constructive and exploratory play, but not substantial increases. There were no changes in dramatic play behavior.
The overall results of this study suggest a positive impact of schoolyard greening on the kinds of play behavior that support the development of cognitive skills. One explanation as to why there were no substantial increases in creative and exploratory play may relate to the fact that the redesigned schoolyards included almost no loose parts.
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