An online survey was used to collect information about favorite outdoor play spaces remembered from childhood. The aim of the study was to understand the defining characteristics of favorite outdoor play spaces and determine how these environments support play. An additional aim was to gain understanding of attitudes regarding contemporary play spaces, particularly in relation to safety in design.
Recruitment of participants was primarily through Facebook. A brief description along with a survey link was posted on the Facebook pages of organizations concerned with play and playgrounds, nature and outdoor play, education and childcare, public space and landscape architecture. The survey was also sent by email to contacts in the investigators' personal networks and to organizations dedicated to safety. The 11-item survey asked participants to recall their favorite outdoor play spaces and the elements contained in these spaces, to describe the benefits they received by playing in these places, and to consider if they were safe play spaces.
A total of 592 survey responses were received, representing 13 different countries. Most of the respondents (87.7%) were from North America, and most (80.7%) were female. Over 50% were between 26-40 years old (50.9 percent), and just 7.8% were in the youngest group (19-25 years old). No significant differences were found in responses based on gender or age.
Sixty-nine percent of the respondents said they thought today's playgrounds are too safe, and 59% -- after recalling their own childhood play spaces -- said they preferred natural environments for play. The respondents' favorite features of their childhood play spaces were overwhelmingly “natural” elements, such as sticks, logs, vegetation, rocks, boulders, and trees. Least-selected elements included asphalt, gravel, fences, and play equipment. Some of the benefits the respondents felt they received from playing in natural environments included a better understanding and appreciation of nature. They also felt that playing in natural environments promoted a sense of stewardship for nature.
Some of the concerns expressed by the participants in reference to many playgrounds today are that they offer limited play opportunities and not enough challenge. Concerns were expressed about a “safety-obsessed culture,” “over-protective parenting,” and prioritizing safety over healthy child development. Some respondents referred to the standardization of playgrounds as a problem in that they fail to accommodate the play needs of all age ranges and offer little opportunity for creative, imaginative, and exploratory play.
Overall, the survey respondents supported a reasonable level of risk and challenge in the play environment as a means for children to learn and develop. They also valued opportunities to develop creativity and freedom to engage in unsupervised, self-directed play. Over 90% of the respondents considered their childhood play space safe, and 88 percent would allow their children to play in their childhood play space today.
One of the implications offered by the researchers in response to these findings is to “move beyond the model of segregated playgrounds to include a range of accessible landscape types,” such as wood lots, creeks, fields, forests, and ravines. Such natural plays paces, they note, are beneficial because they offer a variety of free play opportunities and multi-level challenges which, while promoting healthy child development, also foster care for the environment.
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