プレーパークイベントの継続開催における保護者の子どもの体験への期待の実態

抄録

  This study aimed to clarify the actual expectations of parents regarding the continuous hosting of Playpark events by analyzing changes in expectations between the first and fifth events and examining the characteristics of expectations that are strongly related to parents' continued participation in the events. The study focused on a series of five Playpark events held in Osaka, between February 2023 and March 2025. At the exit of each event, participating parents were surveyed using a questionnaire regarding their satisfaction with the event, their participation status, and their expectations for their children's experiences at the event. From the first to the fifth event, a total of 542 children participated, and a consistently high level of event satisfaction was maintained. Regarding the expectations for the first and fifth events, a large proportion of parents expected their children to experience unfamiliar or uncommon types of play (78.6%→ 82.5%). A test for differences in population proportions indicated that parents' expectations for nature experiences (55.4%→73.7%) and diverse movement experiences (55.4%→73.7%) significantly increased by the fifth event (p=0.042, h=0.386, 95% CI [0.010, 0.357]). A linear discriminant analysis was conducted with participation status (attending almost every time vs. occasionally, or almost every time vs. first-time participants) as the dependent variable, and expectations for children's experiences as the independent variables. For the comparison between those attending almost every time and those attending occasionally, expectations for play experiences (β = -3.428), physical activity benefits (β = 1.569), and movement experiences (β = 1.327) had high absolute values of standardized discriminant coefficients, indicating significant contributions to group differentiation. This suggests that parents who participate more consistently tend to have higher expectations for the benefits of physical activity and diverse movement experiences. For the comparison between those attending almost every time and first-time participants, expectations for a free play space (β = 2.038), movement experiences (β = 1.710), and play experiences (β = -1.471) had high absolute values, also significantly contributing to differentiation. This indicates that consistent participants are more likely to value free play spaces and diverse movement experiences, compared to first-time participants. Going forward, it is important to longitudinally or cross-sectionally examine the transformation of parental expectations and the process of event establishment as the events continue.