Beyond Free Play and Physical Activity: Assessing the Quality and Determinants of Outdoor Environments for Children

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 9:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Perspectives (Table 9)

Abstract

Access to high-quality outdoor environments (OEs) in early childhood education and care settings has important implications for children’s development. The purpose of this study was to explore which key characteristics of the OEs were related to higher quality. A total of 161 educators and 66 outdoor environments (i.e., four infants, 25 toddlers, and 43 preschoolers) across 56 centres were observed. Using multilevel modeling, the study results found a significant relationship between the engagement in unstructured activities, indicators of structural quality (i.e., education, ratios, years of experience, salary), and temperature with the quality of the OE. The findings from this study provide important implications for future research, policy, and practice by helping inform how to support high-quality OEs.

Authors

• Samantha Burns, University of Guelph

• Esther Yu, University of Toronto - OISE

• Michal Perlman, University of Toronto - OISE