Play+Outside-Our+Position

** What little people ** ** do in ** ** Play ** ** is much like what big people ** ** do in Laboratories... ** ** This is where we make sense ** ** of what we think we know... ** ** We move it around ** ** with our hands and in our minds ** ** till it fits together! ** ** -Sue Johnson Fontaine- ** So, in today’s climate of testing vs. play we need to convince people of play’s importance. Meanwhile, we can include play in our day by ** disguising play as learning ** ! Learn here how to take this challenge outside…
 * __Out o’ Sight Outside Play...__ ****for optimal growth in all early childhood domains... **
 * label all the equipment…ladder…swing…see-saw…sand…water…up…down…it’s endless
 * outdoor easels and portable sign materials for drawing and writing opportunities
 * imaginary dramatic play opportunities for creating storylines and acting out known ideas
 * the freedom to creatively change ideas into unique experiences in relative safety
 * to take ownership of deciding what happens next
 * provide materials for creating their own props to support their dramatic play ideas

Physical health is an obvious by-product of appropriate physical fun, but Psychological Strength in early childhood…Resilience…is a more recent concept of concern…met with great gains in Play Therapy. Recent research has addressed this issue and found that social support, more frequently exhibited on the playground, is a cause and consequence of gross motor activity. Being accepted by one’s peers increases the confidence necessary for the risk-taking required to challenge and move beyond our present level of development; being a bit of a risk-taker (without over-doing it) further endears us to our peers (Frost, Wortham, & Stuart, 2008).
 * Our Position on Health and Outdoor Play **** … **

Gross Motor…Research abounds promoting and justifying gross motor activity in all human life, the negative repercussions of abstinence are all around us. Outdoor play environments provide gross motor opportunities not available inside…just to get there we joyfully run or crazy-dance. The outdoor equipment is primarily aimed at the gross motor activity unavailable within the limitations of indoor space…aside from the play environments within fast food restaurants (now there’s a strange combination). We all need outdoor play spaces. Where else can 3 Spidermen, 2 Spidergirls, 2 Batmen, and a Power-Princess save the world together?
 * Our Position on Gross Motor Development and Outdoor Play ** …

Opportunities for making signs and creating dramatic play props to use outside provide children with initiative and motivation to explore their imaginations. Story time areas allow for quiet time to enjoy the finer things outside like reading. Outside spaces are the best places (hopefully) for finding bugs or bug houses and for watching grass grow. Artists create and are depicted creating beautiful works outside. There is a sense of freedom outside that does not exist within the confines of any space and children need the comfort of this freedom to explore their inner selves and finer abilities, as well as their large muscle abilities.
 * Our Position on Fine Motor Development and Outdoor Play ** …

** Our Position on Social-Emotional Development and Outdoor Play ** … The freedom provided by access to unstructured outside play allows children to explore themselves and their abilities to make appropriate choices, act out ideas, develop physical skills, and socialize without the limitations indoor space requires, but within the relative safety of adequate adult supervision and appropriate limits (Frost, Wortham, & Stuart, 2008). According to the Alliance for Childhood, ”[m] ake-believe social play reduces aggression and increases empathy in children” (Ten Steps for Peace,#3, 2005) The interconnectedness of all domains (Miller & Almon, 2009) comes together in the socio-emotional domain of peer interaction.

** Our Position on Independent Functioning and Outdoor Play... ** In the classroom independent functioning refers to self-care and fine motor issues. On the outdoor playground we refer to independent functioning as it concerns independence in the space, with the equipment, and interacting with peers. Creating a play space within which all children can be as independent as possible is a challenge worth tackling. Providing a hard surface weaving around our playground promotes access to all areas by all children regardless of mobility mode…walking, triking, wheelchair, braces, crutches…all can do it. Placing structures adjacent to our “road”, creating paths for additional access, and utilizing portable structures when available promotes participation regardless of ability. Handrails and ramps, climbing walls with finger holds (see our Bubble Wall), and equipment needed by individuals can be added wherever needed to create an environment experienced independently to the greatest extent possible. The benefits of independent access in play transfer to greater acceptance by peers, which reciprocates on-and-on. (Frost, Wortham, & Stuart, 2008)

** Our Position on Language and Cognitive Development and Outdoor Play: ** Research shows children who are given the opportunity to have free play outside or recess have shown that it benefits them in the classroom.It has also shown that there is a relationship between physical activity and brain development.“Activity in one area of the brain affects what happens in other areas.There is no longer a distinction between the mind and body.The cerebellum, the area associated with movement, has been found to be a “virtual switchboard of cognitive activity” (Jensen 1998, 83).” “Nearly 80 studies have suggested a strong link between the cerebellum and memory, special perception, language, attention, emotion, nonverbal cues, and decision making (Jensen 1998).” Physical activity has been strongly connected to attention and memory.It is found that “constant attention is counterproductive to learning.” Children who are given breaks that include activities such as tossing a ball or going for a walk are better able to process information, create internal meaning of the material, and imprint it into their long term memory.It is also found that children need a change in activity that is opposite of what they are doing in order to focus on another cognitive task.“Pellegrini and Bjorklund (1996) asserted that school learning would be more effective if children are afforded opportunities to engage in non-focused, non-intellectual activities, such as recess periods occurring throughout the day.” In a study in Canada schools increased the time children spent doing physical activity in both recess and physical education to one third of the school day.Although students were spending less time on their academic subjects they increased their academic achievement levels. During outdoor play children have many opportunities to increase their language skills.Children have more opportunities to express themselves freely outside the structure of the classroom.“When outdoors, children engage in many genres of language, from rule setting and negotiating when playing games and sports to exclamations and shrieks of joy and laughter when running, sliding, and swinging.” Children who play in an outside setting are constantly engaged in verbal interactions.

** Our Position on Incorporating Dramatic Play into Outdoor Play Grounds: ** “In representational play, also known as dramatic play, preschools use speech and body language to become story tellers of pretend events.Through dramatic play, which is also commonly called pretend/fantasy play, children continue to build understandings of their world.Fantasy play is their ever dependable pathway to knowledge.” Dramatic play is important because it has a beneficial effect on children’s cognitive development, learning, peer relationships, and emotional well being.Research shows that children who engage in dramatic play behaviors are advanced in intellectual development, develops better social skills, and feels safe to express their feelings verbally in a safe outlet of play. When designing playground environments three things need to be considered; thematic play equipment, arrangement of space, and the creation of unique play features.When considering play equipment it is important that children are able to use their creativity and that the equipment does not promote closed ended activities.Unique play features such as cubby’s, natural materials such as dirt, leaves, and flowers, slides, fire poles, clumbers, clatter bridges, overhead ladders and rings, and spring rockers and riders enhances children’s dramatic play on the play ground.The influence of spatial arrangement allows children to freely move through the space and defines spaces for optimal fantasy play.

Pei-San Brown, J.A. (n.d.). Dramatic Play in Outdoor Play Environments. Retrieved June 22, 2010, from PTOToday:  [] 

Sandra Waite-Stupiansky, M.F. (2001). The Forth R:recess and Its Link to Learning.The Education Forum, 66(fall), 19-25