Related/Get out and play!

Remember when your mom used to tell you to "go outside and play?" Unfortunately, that's not happening as much anymore.

Children, on average, spend less than 30 minutes a week in outdoor unstructured play. Children's contact with nature helps to ease attention-deficit disorder, aids cognitive development, enhances creativity, and reduces stress. And of course, with obesity at a critical level in this country, kids need to be running around outside now more than ever.

An exciting step forward is the recent passing of the No Child Left Inside Act H.R. 3036 and S. 1981. The Act requires K-12 school systems to strengthen environmental education curriculums, provide teacher training, and provide federal grant money for schools to pay for environmental education. The NCLI act provides $100 million a year to support this work in participating school systems.

New webinar! "Nature-Based Learning and Play for Children with Autism and Special Needs," with Naomi Sachs and Tara Vincenta.
* Link to the training at the KaBoom! website: Hot Topics in Play
* Read the TLN Blog post about the webinar.

See some of our blog posts on children’s gardens and play.

Links to some great organizations, websites, and blogs about children, outdoor space, and play. Have more suggestions? Tell us so we can add to this list.

Here's a nice video called "Nature Deficit Disorder: Getting Kids Outdoors" from a 2008 piece by WJZ13 news. Good interviews with Robin Moore, Marti Erickson, and Cheryl Charles (of the Children & Nature Network).

 

A few good references. We recommend visiting the Children & Nature Network for more.

  • "Research Shows a Walk in the Park Improves Attention in Children with ADHD," by Frances E. Kuo and Andrea Faber Taylor, 2008. Click HERE to read the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign press release.
  • "Coping with ADD: The Surprising Connection to Green Play Settings," by Andrea Faber Taylor, Frances E. Kuo and William C. Sullivan (2001). Environment and Behavior, Vol. 33, Issue 1, pp. 54-77.
    Click HERE to read a summary of this article by InformeDesign.
  • "Children with Attention Deficits Concentrate Better After Walk in the Park," by Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances E. Kuo (2008). Journal of Attention Disorders, Vol. 0, August, pp. 1-8.
    Click HERE to read a summary of this article by InformeDesign ("Nature Improves Concentration for Children with ADHD.")
  • "Children in the City: Reclaiming the Street," by Lia Karsten and Willem van Vliet (2006). Children, Youth and Environments, Vol. 16, Issue 1, pp. 151-167.
    Click HERE to read a summary of this article by InformeDesign ("Outdoor Spaces with Greenery, Low Traffic Levels and Places for Play are Important for Children in the City.")
  • "Childhood Experiences Associated with Care for the Natural World: A Theoretical Framework for Empirical Results," by Louise Chawla (2007). Children, Youth and Environments, Vol. 17, Issue 4, pp. 144-170.
    Click HERE to read a summary of this article by InformeDesign ("Childhood Memories and Environmental Stewardship.")
  • "Neighborhood Greenness and 2-Year Changes in Body Mass Index of Children and Youth," by Jeffrey Wilson and Gilbert Liu (2008). American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 35 No. 6.
    Summary by Research Design Connections: "The amount of green space near their homes is related to the weights of inner city children. Children living in inner city neighborhoods with more green space (as determined from analysis of satellite photographs) have significantly lower body mass index changes as they grow taller than children living in areas with smaller amounts of green space."
  • "Seeking Restorative Experiences: Elementary School Teachers' Choices for Places that Enable Coping with Stress," by Gowri Betrabet Gulwadi (2006). Environment and Behavior, Vol.38, Issue 4, pp. 503-520.
    Click HERE to read a summary of this article by InformeDesign.
  • “Neighborhood Greenness and 2-Year Changes in Body Mass Index of Children and Youth," by Janice Bell, Jeffrey Wilson, and Gilbert Liu (2008). American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 35, No. 6. Summary from Research Design Connections: "The amount of green space near their homes is related to the weights of inner city children. Children living in inner city neighborhoods with more green space (as determined from analysis of satellite photographs) have significantly lower body mass index changes as they grow taller than children living in areas with smaller amounts of green space."
  • "Perspectives from the Ground: Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Outdoor Play Spaces at Child Care Centers," by Susan Harrington (2008). Children, Youth and Environments, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 64-87.
    Click HERE to read our blog post about this article.
  • "Designing a Playground for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Effects on Playful Peer Interactions.” by Nicola Yuill, Caroline Roake, Ruth Aspden, and Brenda Todd (2007). Journal of Autism Development Disorders, Vol. 37, No. 6.
    Click HERE to view or download the pdf.
  • "Accessible Play: No More Watching from the Sidelines," by Stephen Kelly, Editor, Landscape Architect and Specifyer News. This article features 7 playgrounds designed for universal play. Read the article online at www.landscapeonline.com/research/article/11315.
    Full citation: Kelly, Stephen (2008). "Accessible Play: No More Watching from the Sidelines." Landscape Architect and Specifyer News, October, Vol. 24, No. 10, p. 62.
  • "Resurrecting the 'Adventure-Style' Playground," by Daniel Jost, ASLA (2010). Landscape Architecture, Vol. 100, No. 3, March, pp. 44-63.
    "Two new playgrounds in Central Park honor the past and offer hope for the future of playground design." Includes a conversation with M. Paul Friedberg, "the father of adventure playgrounds in the U.S.

And a few must-have books:

A Child's Garden: 60 Ideas to Make Any Garden Come Alive for Children by Molly Dannenmaier

Plants for Play by Robin C. Moore

Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughan

 

Here is a comment we received from our blog post on the Huntington Children's Garden:

Namaste - good grief, we could use this in the UK....

I have a young son with autism, he loves to be outside, but he is strong and can be very violent, so there are no toys I can afford to purchase for him that he cannot destroy. And even though he loves gardens and gardening, lights and sensory waterfalls and all sorts of things, I couldn't possibly afford to buy these things for him. Even the disability grants we have in this country see gardening and landscaping as "luxuries" and yet a therapeutic garden would be perfect for him....

I live in hope that someday it would be recognised that a beautiful interactive outdoor space is just as necessary for an autistic child's wellbeing as the latest technology indoors. If you ever want to take on such a labour of love, by all means look me up...I'm willing to try anything these days and if it means finding financial backing, then I'll find it.

R. Skye

Good examples of built works for play:

Strong National Museum of Play Rochester, NY, USA
Dancing Wings Butterfly Conservatory
Designer: Zaretsky and Associates, Inc.
Click here for images and description on Zaretsky and Associates' website
www.strongmuseum.org

child hiding behind tree

Image courtesy of Guy Ambrosino

"Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold."
- Joseph Chilton Pierce
"Thank you for putting me in touch with Naomi, which led me to revise my plans for my autism school and we are now looking to incorporate a Healing Garden in the horticutural program."