From the child's perspective: How the layout of outdoor school environments shapes conflict between children's self-directed play

• Published in: Journal of environmental psychology 2022-02, Vol.79, p.101727, Article 101727
• Main Author: Aminpour, Fatemeh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior settings; Conflict; Play behavior; Playground; School layout
• ISSN: 0272-4944; 1522-9610
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101727

Conflict between children's activities has been recognized as one of the main barriers to school recess play; however, the role of school design in shaping the conflict is not sufficiently known, particularly from children's perspectives. This study's primary objective is to investigate the topic in the context of primary school grounds with 8–10 year-old children to understand the nature of play activities that are not compatible and the role of school layout in shaping the conflict between them. By using behavior mapping, walking tours and focus groups in three Australian primary school playgrounds, this paper showed that to avoid conflict, children preferred play settings organized around distinct zones. Children identified the character of each zone by the affordances it contained, the governing school rules, and the activities it supported. They asked for multiple separate zones for gross motor activities, and for each social group to play with their own year and gender. They also required physical barriers and sufficient buffer space around play settings to prevent disruption. The discussion suggests interventions in school layouts that help avoid conflict between children's activities and ultimately enhance their engagement in self-directed play. •Grassed areas support multiple activity types that usually come into conflict.•Providing multiple separate zones for gross motor activities can avoid conflict.•Unavailability of multiple zones can lead to informal use of school playgrounds.•Children choose to move along the paths that hug the edges of play settings.•Incompatible play activities need appropriate boundaries if located adjacently.