Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify the play environment for children by studying the status quo of children's play and how parents view their play. The findings are as follows : 1) It is clarified that after school playtime is short and that their play with mates of same age group is mainly limited to some privately owned indoor space. This is increasingly evident among children in higher grades. It also becomes apparent that there are children who would prefer to play outdoors but are not able to do so as there is neither play space nor playmates available while playtime is short. 2) Children have few daily-based nature experiences. It is found in this connection that, in higher grades, children with more nature experience (especially daily-based ones) have stronger interest in outdoor play. 3) Parents' satisfaction with children's play is relevant to the play conditions; their satisfaction increases as their children play outdoors more often. Many parents feel the need to not only increase the time but also improve the quality of outdoor play for children. 4) It seems outdoor play has certainly become more often when encouraged by parents, but far more effective than parent's prompting seems devising ways to lead children to have more interest in outdoor play.
