The greening of an outdoor playspace led to an increase in the variety and level of infants’ and toddlers’ movement and physical activityThis study investigated the responses of infants and toddlers to the greening of the outdoor playspace at their childcare center in Melbourne, Australia. The redesign process was completed over a three-month period and included the addition of a variety of natural elements such as trees, sand, logs, sticks, stones, bark, and hay. The post-greening environment also included inclines, an arched bridge, and a raised platform providing opportunities for children to experience space with slightly differing levels.
Behavior mapping – conducted before and after the greening of the playspace – focused on group patterns of children’s behaviors. With behavior mapping, researchers recorded the incidence of categories of children’s behaviors within specific settings. The focus of the observations was on children’s play, their physical movements, and sensory experiences. The researchers also used child tracking (a specific from of behavior mapping) to collect information about how individual children responded to the changes in their outdoor playspace. Child tracking was conducted with seven of the participating children. Field notes were also used to collect information not included in the formal observations.
The concept of affordances was used as a lens for interpreting children’s responses to the changed environment. The concept of affordances is a way of thinking about environmental features in relation to the opportunities they provide for meaningful interactions, manipulations, and experiences.
Findings indicated that the concept of affordances was a useful way to investigate children’s responses to features and organization of their redesigned playspace. While exploratory play was the most frequent type of play observed during both the pre- and post-greening observational periods, the materials (affordances) used for exploration were different. In every pre-greening observation, children were observed using some type of manufactured materials provided by the teachers, such as blocks, balls, and bikes. Sand was used in 14 out or 40 pre-greening observations, but this was primarily limited to play in a sand tray. Some plants were accessible in the pre-greening environment but in an area rarely used by the children. In the post-greening environment, children were observed using a variety of natural materials during 34 of the 40 observations.
Types of behavior observed most often during post-greening observations included sitting, squatting, kneeling, lying, climbing, and manipulating materials. Many of these behaviors seemed to be motivated by natural materials (leaves, stones, sticks, etc.) on or close to the ground. Balancing was another behavior showing a marked increase from pre- to post-greening observations – from no observations of balancing in the pre-greening environment to 14 incidences post-greening. Most of the balancing incidences were observed on new wooden edging.
Overall, the introduction of natural and built elements to the playspace as a part of greening the play environment led to an increase in the variety and level of children’s movement and physical activity. These new elements provided the children with affordances which offered them positive challenges in motor activities, especially in the areas of balance, orientation in space, and negotiating inclines and different levels.
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