Action-Research on the Outdoor Play of Young Children

: Focusing on the Continuity of the Play

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to establish a model for outdoor play of young children and to examine its effect on children’s physical activities. The author conducted 9-day intervention in 5-year-old children’s outdoor play, and their amount of physical activities increased by enhancing children’s enthusiastic level toward outdoor play. The analysis clarified that there were 5 points of intervention in order to enhance the enthusiastic level of young children: 1) continuity of the outdoor play, 2) existence of the leader, 3) assistance to the leader to be able to organize the outdoor play, 4) reinforcing children’s insistence on their play through review sessions of the play, and 5) restriction on the play environment for children to overcome difficulties when pursuing their play.