Hands up, minds on! Learn & play landscapes: Systematic review

• Published in: Thinking skills and creativity 2025-06, Vol.56, Article 101724
• Main Authors: Boroumandi, Fatemeh, Daneshmand, Sara, Fattahi, Kaveh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Children; Landscape design; Playful learning; Systematic review; Thinking skills
• ISSN: 1871-1871
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101724

•Importance of playful public spaces: The study emphasizes the critical role of learn & play landscapes in supporting children's health, development, and learning outcomes.•Comprehensive review: This research conducts a systematic review using the PRISMA method, of 33 empirical studies (2005–2024) to explore the intersection of learning, play, and landscape design, addressing key gaps in the field.•Findings: This study aims to address the following key questions through a comprehensive review of existing literature.•What approaches have researchers employed in studying learn & play Landscapes, who has researched learn & play Landscapes, and what fields of study do they represent, who was identified as the target audience in this research, how have learn & play landscape researchers developed their studies, and what methods did they employ?•Global and temporal scope: The research also analyzes where and when learn & play landscapes have been most implemented, highlighting these initiatives' global spread and timing.•Challenges Identified: The review identifies three major challenges for future research: increased collaboration across disciplines, identifying more public spaces suitable for learn & play Landscapes, and using more advanced measurement tools for measuring effectiveness. Opportunities for play in public spaces are crucial for supporting children's health and development. Over the past decade, numerous studies have explored the intersection of play, learning, and the design of playful landscapes, highlighting the benefits of outdoor play and its connection to learning outcomes. Efforts have also focused on creating playful environments within urban settings tailored to children's educational needs. Despite these efforts, systematic research in this field remains limited. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a comprehensive review of existing literature, addressing key questions such as What approaches have researchers employed in studying learn & play landscapes, Who has conducted research on learn & play landscapes, and what fields of study do they represent, Who was identified as the target audience in this research, How have researchers in learn & play landscapes developed their studies, and what methods did they employ, Where did learn & play landscapes research attract the most interest globally, and which land-uses were most frequently explored and emphasized in these studies and, When did research on playful, learning-oriented l