Greenery on schoolyards make them more attractive to children, as long as the green areas also support varied play activities

The role of greenery on children's physical activity play on schoolyards was investigated in two schools in Sweden: one with a substantial amount of greenery; one with almost no greenery. Both schools were located in neighborhoods with similar socio-economic status and ethnicity. Each school had two scheduled recesses per day -- one for 20 minutes, the other for 40-50 minutes. Children were expected to spend their recess time outdoors, and this was the case for the duration of this study with just a few exceptions for some of the children at the school with very little greenery. The study not only compared the activity at the more green school grounds with the more barren school grounds but also with more or less green sub-settings at each of the schools.
The study involved 197 children, ages 10 through 13, over a one-week period. Both self-report measures and pedometer readings were used for data collection. The self-report measures focused on school ground use, favorite places, and favorite activities. The aim of the study was to learn more about the specific role of greenery in design by investigating settings with plenty of physical activity play and to draw conclusions about the role of greenery in children's preferences and use of places where they play.

Pedometer readings indicated that physical activity in steps was similar in both schools, with the count for girls being less than the count for boys. Girls tended to stay near the buildings, while boys tended to make more use of the whole school grounds and sports fields. A similar pattern emerged based on age – younger children tended to stay close to the buildings, while older children were more likely to use other parts of the schoolyard.

The most common school ground activities involved the use of balls in different sports and other play activities. While children identified extensive green areas as their favorite places, a mix of green and built elements in proximity to buildings were their favorite places to play. Greenery tended to make settings more attractive to girls as well as boys and for younger as well as older children as long as the green areas also supported peer interaction and a variety of games. Physical play behavior at the school with more greenery tended to be more varied and include more interaction between boys and girls than the play behavior at the school with less greenery.