PLAY SCAPE

The scope of my research question “Does Nature Play Outweigh the Expense” has evolved from the obvious benefits of outdoor play for school age children to a more psychological approach of gauging the importance of this type of education.  Not only is environmental awareness heightened in students who are exposed to landscape playscape, but the importance and fostering of awareness itself could quite possibly be associated with this perceptive and experience based type of learning.  The article that I retrieved from the JSTOR database through Leatherby Libraries offers data retrieved by performing a quasi-experimental study that was conducted on “five-, six-, and seven-year old children with an experimental group playing in a natural environment and a control group playing in a more traditional playground” (Fjørtoft. 2004).  Fjørtoft offers physical, social, emotional and cognitive development as catalysts for natural playscape in her very first paragraph demonstrating the depth of material offered within this research topic.  Certainly,  according to the region in question there will be differing costs in accordance with the amount of natural playscape available to students.  There were many legitimate references within this article, however I am finding that most of this research based study is somewhat outdated and generally stems from European based countries. I guess America My research skills are still lacking, I tend to forget things I don’t use on a concurrent basis, for this reason I really enjoy the search path notes aspect of our assignments.  It is very difficult to mirror an earlier search, which makes it imperative that we record our steps, or at the very least copy and paste the source for further reading.  I actually find the research task quite daunting at first, but then I start to figure out small shortcuts or helpful tips and it almost becomes fun, ALMOST, ha.  It really helps though when you are researching something you find interesting, we are not always afforded with this choice, so it makes a clear difference in my writing. 

Image Retrieved from http://www.outdoorgulfcoast.com/outdoor-free-play/ 

Fjørtoft, I. (2004). Landscape as playscape: The effects of natural environments on children's play and motor development. Children, Youth and Environments, 14(2), 21-44. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.chapman.edu/stable/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.14.2.0021