Playground Innovations and Art Teaching

Let the Children Play: Scoping Review on the Implementation and Use of Loose Parts for Promoting Physical Activity Participation

“…Szekely emphasizes how loose parts in outdoor environments can foster a creative play setting, while also encouraging children's artistic abilities [15] . The idea behind adventure playgrounds is to stray from conventional playground structures, and instead provide children with the prospect to interact freely and creatively with the playground environment [15] .…”

“…Szekely emphasizes how loose parts in outdoor environments can foster a creative play setting, while also encouraging children's artistic abilities [15] . The idea behind adventure playgrounds is to stray from conventional playground structures, and instead provide children with the prospect to interact freely and creatively with the playground environment [15] . Initially created in Europe, then later incorporated in a similar way in the United States, these playgrounds provide children with the opportunity to choose for themselves what and how to play [15] .…”

“…The idea behind adventure playgrounds is to stray from conventional playground structures, and instead provide children with the prospect to interact freely and creatively with the playground environment [15] . Initially created in Europe, then later incorporated in a similar way in the United States, these playgrounds provide children with the opportunity to choose for themselves what and how to play [15] . Loose parts further this creative opportunity by providing an environment and materials that are open to the child's own interpretation.…”

“…Another major limitation is that there was little comparability between the outcome variable that studies were exploring. Some studies were interested in how loose parts affected creativity [2] , [15] , others were interested in play behaviours [5] , [8] , [17] and many studies were excluded as they focused on variables such as language or artistic abilities rather than on physical activity or physical literacy.…”

“…Neill argues that the implementation of loose parts encourages a range of types of play including creative play, exploratory play, or dramatic play [13] . Loose parts were also discovered to provide a different way of thinking, fostering creativity and exploration of the environment and of movements [2] , [15] . Furthermore, Sutton claims that including a large array of loose parts into a play environment can act to broaden children's minds [17] .…”