Social interaction, stress and attention may improve in one- to three-year-olds by free play in outdoor green spaceIn addition to the role of educators and peers, research indicates that an educational institution’s environment (including spatial and physical characteristics) can impact students’ learning and development in positive and negative ways. Existing research has mainly focused on the environments in primary and secondary schools. Childcare centers have increasingly become places of education for children, yet they differ significantly from traditional educational institutions. The authors assert that toddlers and infants are especially sensitive to environmental factors, and research on these younger age groups, and the childcare center environment, is warranted. Restorative environments are those that promote recovery of physical and mental capacities, such as the ability to deal with stress and focus attention, and research indicates that natural environments are more restorative than built environments. The authors suggest that educational environments should promote the reduction of stress and maintenance of direct attention. The study’s specific aim was to examine the effect of free play outdoors versus indoors at a childcare center on children’s social interactions, stress, and ability to focus direct attention.
Study participants were children aged 18 to 36 months old at a childcare center in Rome, Italy. Performance during a visual-spatial task (coloring inside a drawing or pasting pieces of paper within the lines of a drawing) was used as a measure of directed attention and was categorized as either accomplished or not. Quality of social interaction was defined by the frequency of small group play, self-organized play, direct interventions by educators, and episodes of boredom. Stress levels were measured by counting the frequency of dispute-resolution interventions by educators, crying episodes, and capacity to be quickly comforted when crying. The researchers observed children for the social interaction and stress outcomes during free play and in the structured directed attention activity following free play, for outside versus inside settings. Trained observers counted the frequency of the above quality of social interaction and stress indicators and scored each child on a six-point scale.
Quantitative data analysis was conducted to compare outcomes between settings. Regarding quality of social interaction, study results showed more small group play and self-organized play in the outdoor setting. When children played in the outdoor setting, there were fewer direct interventions by educators and fewer episodes of boredom, although these relationships were not statistically significant. Statistically significant improvements for all three stress indicators were observed when children played in the outdoor setting versus the indoor setting. Children were more likely to accurately complete the directed attention visual-spatial task after free playing outdoors than free playing indoors.
The authors conclude by stating, “These findings can contribute to gaining a better understanding of the restoration processes occurring in different typologies of educational settings and suggest the importance of providing these environments, such as childcare centers, with adequate external green spaces, in order to allow children to have opportunities for systematic psychological restoration during school time.”
characteristics) can impact students’ learning and development in positive and negative ways. Existing research has mainly focused on the environments in primary and secondary schools. Childcare centers have increasingly become places of education for children, yet they differ significantly from traditional educational institutions. Toddlers and infants are especially sensitive to environmental factors, and research on these younger age groups, and the childcare center environment, is warranted. Restorative environments are those that promote recovery of physical and mental capacities, such as the ability to deal with stress and focus attention, and research shows natural environments are more restorative than built environments. The authors suggest that educational environments should promote the reduction of stress and maintenance of direct attention. The study’s specific aim was to examine the effect of free play outdoors versus indoors at a childcare center on children’s social interactions, stress, and ability to focus direct attention.
Study participants were children (n=16) aged 18 to 36 months old at a childcare center in Rome, Italy. Performance during a visual spatial task (coloring inside a drawing or pasting pieces of paper within the lines of a drawing) was used as a measure of directed attention and was categorized as either accomplished or not. Quality of social interaction was defined by the frequency of small group play, self-organized play, direct interventions by educators (reverse coded), and episodes of boredom (reverse coded). Stress levels were measured by counting the frequency of dispute-resolution interventions by educators, crying episodes, and capacity to be quickly comforted when crying (reverse coded). The researchers observed children for the social interaction and stress outcomes during free play and in the structured directed attention activity following free play, for outside versus inside settings. Trained observers counted the frequency of the above quality of social interaction and stress indicators and scored each child on a six-point scale from 0=never to 5=always.
Quantitative data analysis was conducted to compare outcomes between settings. Regarding quality of social interaction, study results showed more small group play and self-organized play in the outdoor setting. When children played in the outdoor setting, there were fewer direct interventions by educators and fewer episodes of boredom, though these relationships were not statistically significant. Statistically significant improvements for all three stress indicators were observed when children played in the outdoor setting versus indoor setting. Children were more likely to accurately complete the directed attention visuospatial task after free playing outdoors than free playing indoors, but the authors do not report statistical significance, and the authors comment that this finding is less clear than the finding of exposure to the outdoor setting on stress indicators.
There are several factors to consider when interpreting this study's findings. The characteristics of the indoor and outdoor environments are not defined. There is no explanation of how the outcome scales were designed and if their sensitivity to the constructs measured (social interaction, stress and directed attention) have been established. Therefore, the adequacy of reliability and validity cannot be assumed. The authors do not note how many children displayed the various behaviors related to social interaction or stress or accomplished the directed attention task. Variability of the outcomes is therefore unknown. The sample size is small and characteristics of the children are not explained. Details that would reassure the reader regarding bias are not reported.
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