Moore, R.C., 1986, The power of nature orientations of girls and boys toward biotic and abiotic play settings on a reconstructed schoolyard, in: Childrens Environments Quarterly, , 3
- Author : Moore, R.C.
- Year : 1986
- Journal/Series : Childrens Environments Quarterly
- Volume Number (ANNUAL: Counting Volumes of the Year shown above) : 3
- Pages : 52-69
- Abstract in English : KEYWORDS: children, school grounds, participation, social integration, natural play settings, play, social interaction. UTILITY: lecturers/teachers, academic research, students of universities of professional education.
- Comments/Notes : This article is dealing with a program of investigation aimed at understanding children’s environment relationships on a reconstructed schoolyard. Beginning in 1972, asphalt on the one-and-a half-acre site was replaced with a variety of playing- and learning settings to support child development and to act a social focus for the surrounding neighbourhood. Te ensure social relevance, the program of desired physical changes was generated by the community through a participatory process of surveys and workshops involving teaching staff, administrators, neighbourhood residents and children – both at the school and those living in the neighbourhood. On the old, asphalted yard, informal observation indicated very little mixing between the sexes. Girls played on the ‘bars’, boys played ball on the asphalt. Both groups played their own traditional chase and counting-out games that did not require equipment. Once the natural resource area began to develop, a much wider range of play activity was observed with more intermixing between the sexes. The results demonstrate the importance of natural settings and provide the programmers and designers of children’s environments with some useful evidence.