A study on nursery school children's outdoor play：playground sizes and children's physical activity levels

Abstract

This study examined how the size of playground in the nursery school is related to children's levels of physical activity in playing outdoor (in the playground and outside of the school). We compared two nursery schools, School A with a smaller playground and School B with a larger playground. A total of 42 children (20 children from School A；22 children from School B) participated.

We observed children's outdoor play for ten days in the morning and measured physical activity levels by accelerometer. We found the following：

(1) that the activity level of children at School A with a smaller playground was lower than that of children at School B with a larger playground, and

(2) that outside-of-the-school outdoor play is associated with higher activity levels than outdoor play in the school playground, however,

(3) that both schools did outside-of-the-school outdoor play only once during the two week observation period.

Given the vital importance of providing children with enough outdoor play, we must address playground size and use of outside-of-the-school outdoor play.