The Importance of Intentional Outdoor Play Spaces for Young Children

The purpose of this study was to observe outdoor play in infants and toddlers and examine their traffic patterns throughout the play space as well as their interests in the areas. It was hypothesized that the more intention and careful consideration that goes into planning the play space, the more the children would want to interact with that space rather than other areas. There were 58 participants recruited from a childcare center in a large mid-south community to play and interact with play spaces as well as the educators and peers to learn more about specific interests and patterns associated with outdoor play in young children. The results of this study displayed that children are far more likely to interact with play spaces if there are materials in the area and if those materials are easily age-appropriate and accessible. Play spaces that had little to no materials had little to no interactions, making them seem unappealing to infants and toddlers. Young children chose outdoor play spaces that had accessible and intriguing materials versus spaces with minimal materials