Browsing by Subject "Nature play"

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Child friendly urbanism : successful examples, best practices & resources, and strategies for success
(2014) Palone, Annie; Almy, Dean
In the past fifty years, urban children have lost their freedom to roam, to explore, and to make meaning of the world around them. Kids need free time, free play, and access to nature if they are to develop into healthy, environmentally-engaged adults. Environmental education, ecoliteracy, and time spent outdoors in free play, can help to re-engage children with the world around them, and to build the foundation of positive environmental attitudes that they will take into adulthood. This study collects resources and strategies in the hope of inspiring urban designers to prioritize the making of child friendly urban places. Addressing sustainability through the prioritization of “future generations” – starting with today’s children – this study offers examples, resources, and best practice, to posit strategies for child friendly urban design. Strategies and resources for restoring lost habitats through contemporary initiatives, including Nature Play and Learning areas, schoolyards reimagined as community playgrounds, and teaching gardens are outlined. Successful examples from three exemplary cities (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm) are documented at three scales of intervention (ecodistricts, housing, and play places), in order to identify additional 21st century strategies for child friendly city-making. These strategies are tested in East Boston, where four “acupuncture” sites, identified through careful analysis, are updated with elements of “Nature Play,” chosen according to a site conditions matrix.
How children in a science-centered preschool use science process skills while engaged in play activities
(2011-05) McFarlin, Lillian Marie; Reifel, Robert Stuart; Barufaldi, James; Brown, Christopher; Bryant, Diane; Marshall, Jill
Self-motivated activities, or play, that children choose to engage in are manifestations of a variety of science process skills being used to construct knowledge about their environment. While many people agree that science skills should be fostered at an early age, due to the possible positive influence of a wider base of experiential knowledge and the development of a love of science, there is a lack of research available to support the development of early childhood science curriculum (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997, Brenneman, Stevenson-Boyd & Frede, 2009). This study follows the daily activities of four- and five-year-old children attending a science-based preschool in the southwestern United States. The play activities of the children were observed for their use of the science process skills of observing, comparing, classifying, measuring, communicating, inferring, predicting and experimenting. A wide range of play activities centered around the foundational skills of observing, comparing, measuring, communicating and inferring. The teachers and students combine to create a unique environment promoting excitement and exploration.