Playing in '': Environmental Features and Conditions of a Natural Playspace Which Support Diverse Outdoor Play Activities among Younger Children.

Outdoor play in nature-rich spaces has been associated with healthy development among young children. The diverse play opportunities afforded to children by natural playspaces can scaffold health benefits, appreciation of nature, and pro-environmental behaviors into adulthood. Environmental features and conditions of outdoor playspaces significantly influence the diversity and quality of play opportunities.

An Intervention to Increase Outdoor Play in Early Childhood Education Centers (PROmoting Early Childhood Outside): Protocol for a Pilot Wait-list Control Cluster Randomized Trial.

Background: Participation in outdoor play has been extensively documented as beneficial for the health, well-being, and development of children. Canadian early childhood education centers (ECECs) are important settings in young children's lives and provide opportunities to participate in outdoor play. However, there are barriers to the provision of outdoor play opportunities at ECECs, such as adverse weather conditions, poorly designed outdoor spaces, outdoor time policies, and early childhood educator comfort levels.

Tool for Observing Play Outdoors (TOPO): A New Typology for Capturing Children's Play Behaviors in Outdoor Environments.

Engagement in play has been definitively linked to the healthy development of children across physical, social, cognitive, and emotional domains. The enriched nature of high-quality outdoor play environments can afford a greater diversity of opportunities for play than indoor settings. To more effectively design outdoor play settings, we must better understand how the physical environment supports, or hinders, the different types of play which suit children's needs and interests.