Freedom, joy and wonder as existential categories of childhood – reflections on experiences and memories of outdoor play

Fasting, Merete Lund; Høyem, Jannicke

doi:10.1080/14729679.2022.2066008

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Loebach and Gilliland [17] found that children are well aware of atmospheric qualities afforded by their physical environment, such as recognising poor aesthetics and conditions. Other research has elaborated on the importance of the nature provision of playgrounds and its contribution to atmosphere [24,[107][108][109]. Regarding natural environments, an interesting finding from this review was that studies exploring the outdoor play of children with disabilities merely focused on the built environment, such as play equipment or surfacing, whereas studies that explored perspectives of children without disabilities elaborated to a much greater extent on the natural environment as well as other built structures (such as benches, fences, stairs) for play.…”

Section: Physical Social and Atmospheric Affordances For Outdoor Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Qualities That Enhance Outdoor Play in Community Playgrounds from the Perspective of Children with and without Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Morgenthaler

Schulze

Pentland

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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For children, playgrounds are important environments. However, children’s perspectives are often not acknowledged in playground provision, design, and evaluation. This scoping review aimed to summarize the users’ (children with and without disabilities) perspectives on environmental qualities that enhance their play experiences in community playgrounds. Published peer-reviewed studies were systematically searched in seven databases from disciplines of architecture, education, health, and social sciences; 2905 studies were screened, and the last search was performed in January 2023. Included studies (N = 51) were charted, and a qualitative content analysis was conducted. Five themes were formed which provided insights into how both physical and social environmental qualities combined provide for maximum play value in outdoor play experiences. These multifaceted play experiences included the desire for fun, challenge, and intense play, the wish to self-direct play, and the value of playing alone as well as with known people and animals. Fundamentally, children wished for playgrounds to be children’s places that were welcoming, safe, and aesthetically pleasing. The results are discussed in respect to social, physical, and atmospheric environmental affordances and the adult’s role in playground provision. This scoping review represents the valuable insights of children regardless of abilities and informs about how to maximise outdoor play experiences for all children.

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Section: Physical Social and Atmospheric Affordances For Outdoor Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Qualities That Enhance Outdoor Play in Community Playgrounds from the Perspective of Children with and without Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Morgenthaler

Schulze

Pentland

et al. 2023

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These include the absence of national associations that can connect outdoor educators and provide curriculum guidance (Asfeldt et al, 2020), limited attention given to specific teaching and learning strategies (Evans, 2021), and insufficient focus on teacher education and training. Some studies (Asfeldt, 2020;Evans, 2021;Lund Fasting & Hoyem, 2022) highlight how diverse spatial contexts, such as location, physical space, and geography of outdoor learning, can impact the communication of its philosophy, values, and goals. It's also worth noting that many mainstream schools encounter challenges when trying to incorporate OPL practices within their settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outdoor play and learning practices from a comparative case study perspective

Gessiou,

Mart

2023

J Child Edu Soc

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Outdoor play and learning (OPL) is emphasised differently across countries, and cultural aspects influence these practices. There are ongoing debates around outdoor learning in early years, and the communication of the value, effectiveness, and applicability of OPL across schools has encountered obstacles due to various factors. The diversity of implementations within different cultures is obvious, and there are even some variations within the same country in terms of practices and understanding of the philosophy of OPL. The current case study contributes to the gap in mapping OPL practices using a comparative approach in two types of case schools in three countries: England, Greece, and Türkiye. This study offers insights from both teachers’ and head teachers’ perspectives in addition to considering observation notes. Several themes emerged from the analysis, including ‘components of schools’ daily life outdoors, forest trips and excursions, from break time to their time, and the question of training’. In conclusion, school culture and the selected educational philosophy appear to have a more significant impact on OPL practices than environmental features alone. However, the findings indicate that schools lack a strategic and systematic approach to the deployment of OPL into the school philosophy. In terms of focusing more on the outdoors, personal values play a significant role, as does the support of stakeholders. The practical similarities and differences highlighted in this study can support the development of OPL practices and inform stakeholders in the early years to reconsider their contexts and potentially introduce transformative changes.

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The potentiality of nature to tug at our heartstrings: an exploratory inquiry into supportive affordances for emotion-focused family therapy in the outdoors

Fernee,

Wahlgren,

Trangsrud

2023

Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education

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A wealth of studies demonstrate the associations between nature contact and well-being, and gradually, nature-based solutions are becoming more widespread in mental health care and recovery. While emotion-focused therapies generally show promising results, evidence of nature-based family therapy is still scarce. In a forthcoming clinical trial at Sørlandet hospital in Southern Norway, we will compare indoor and outdoor provision of emotion-focused multi-family therapy. The foundation of emotion-focused therapeutic work with families is a deep belief in the healing powers of families, where resources within the “ecosystem” of a given family can be reactivated and nudged towards establishing a greater sense of harmony and connectedness over time. According to a Gibsonian understanding of affordances, humans respond to possibilities and limitations within an environment, where affordances in the context of this article arise from a systemic interplay between nature, participating families and facilitators. In this exploratory inquiry, we are particularly interested in the myriad ways nature may influence four core principles in emotion-focused therapy, including (a) emotion awareness, (b) emotion regulation, (c) reflection on emotion, and (d) emotion transformation. In this perspective article, we propose hypotheses and working metaphors in relation to everything from emotions’ multiple purposes to the delineation of facilitators’ accepting, empathic and curious stance. First and foremost, we attempt to generate a preliminary account of nature’s potentiality to tug at our heartstrings and offer a supportive environment for the novel provision of emotion-focused family therapy in the outdoors.

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Freedom, joy and wonder as existential categories of childhood – reflections on experiences and memories of outdoor play

Cited by 9 publications

References 39 publications

Environmental Qualities That Enhance Outdoor Play in Community Playgrounds from the Perspective of Children with and without Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Environmental Qualities That Enhance Outdoor Play in Community Playgrounds from the Perspective of Children with and without Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Outdoor play and learning practices from a comparative case study perspective

The potentiality of nature to tug at our heartstrings: an exploratory inquiry into supportive affordances for emotion-focused family therapy in the outdoors

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