Families that experienced Covid-19 lockdowns in some way have all been effected one way or another, whether that is cognitively or physically. For children this has meant no outdoor play for a period of time during this restrictions. This blog will be analysing a study performed by Susan Herrington & Ken Studtmann (1998) on the “…directions for design of Children’s Outdoor Play Environments”. This study takes into account of Children’s social, emotional and cognitive development – not only the physical. They explore ways to support the development of children through unique aspects of the outdoors.
The study has compared the installation of natural material and other landscape elements into existing yards to offer additional support for development. This is called a landscape design approach. The data was collected via video documentation and anecdotal field notes by trained professionals. Participants were aged 2-6 years of age, they were allowed to play in two different types of yards. One yard would be a basic yard with existing conditions of the normal physical development equipment like, climber, swings, sand, bridges and mound. The play yard would then be upgrade to have additional materials like, ice blocks for sculpting, chimes, chalk to draw on the pavement, shovels, play house, and water sculpture.
They found that the play yard with additional materials to go along with the physical development equipment improved the development of the children socially, physically, emotionally and cognitively. Showing that outdoor environment is paramount for identifying processes. Suggesting that Land-Scape Based Designs approach was important when taking into account children’s development to create a sense of place within their play yard environment as well as cognitive understanding of their surroundings.
See full study here.
This demonstrates not only the importance of your children’s surroundings but the materials and interactive nature of the environment that they are immersed in. Creating more options for them to use can facilitate their overall development not only physically nut cognitively as well. This challenges their cognition and interactions with others, placing them in different social scenarios and stimulus to further develop themselves.
This shows the importance to reintroduce your child to as many options as possible to create the environment that they need to thrive in to fully develop. If you are a business selling to schools, facilities or playgrounds for playground equipment or materials this shows that the materials that you provide can be essential in the children’s development.
