Neighborhood Environment and Children's Experience of Play.

Abstract

This study was designed to analyze the relationship between features of a neighborhood environment and the play of fifty-nine (59) children of both sexes, ages 4 to 12. Observation and photographs were made over a sixteen (16) week period. Materials found in the neighborhood were treated as independent variables, play contents as dependent, setting as contrast, and sex and age as intervening variables. It was found that children prefer to play in a construction area and where there are trees rather than in a playground; they play more often with natural things and "real life toys" out of garbage cans than with children's toys; they enjoy testing their skills when there is some danger; play encourages social-emotional growth as the children learn to use rules and rituals. The findings suggest that: children's play could be enhanced if a deposit area of "old things" were available in each neighborhood, where children could discover a variety of "play things" for enhancing their fantasy, creativity, affective, perceptual, and manual skills. Also, children need places that offer risk, challenge, and adventure.