Wilbers, Eva (2024) A Systematic Review Exploring how Play Behavior in Children is Influenced by Natural Playgrounds Compared to Traditional Playgrounds. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
In recent years, nature play has become more popular and more traditional playgrounds have been changed into natural playgrounds. Natural playgrounds offer open-ended materials that give the child the chance to use their imagination. Nature also offers countless opportunities to play. The goal of this systematic review is to determine whether there are differences in physical activity play, object play and fantasy or pretend play between a nature playground and a traditional playground. For this literature review studies were taken from PsycInfo and ERIC and combined into EBSCO host, eventually, eight studies found on the play behavior of children in both natural and traditional playgrounds were included. Only English reports researching play behavior of children from 4 to 12 years old without disabilities were included. This review was reported using, and informed by, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. It can be concluded that there were no differences found in physical play behavior between natural and traditional playgrounds. Object play did seem to increase in natural environments as did imaginative play compared to a traditional playground. The limitations of this study are that there is no single definition of the different kinds of play behavior or how to measure them. When designing a new playground, playground designers who want to stimulate imaginative or object play in children should consider a nature playground.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Schuls, M. and Roest, A.M. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Ontwikkelingspsychologie (O) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Feb 2025 14:50 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Feb 2025 14:50 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4630 |
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