Schoolchildren’s play – A tool for health education

Objective: The purpose of this study was to gain more knowledge about the phenomenon of the inner child in relation to health and well-being as reflected in play experienced by schoolchildren. Design/method: Participants were 20 schoolchildren recruited from a primary school in a medium-size city in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health education journal 2020-02, Vol.79 (1), p.21-33
Main Authors: Sjöblom, Margareta, Jacobsson, Lars, Öhrling, Kerstin, Kostenius, Catrine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arbetsterapi
Child psychology
Childhood
Children
Conflict
Coping
Coping strategies
Decision Making
Education
Elementary School Students
Elementary schools
Foreign Countries
Freehand Drawing
Friendship
Grade 3
Health
Health Education
health promotion
Health Science
Health status
Hälsovetenskap
inner child
Interpersonal Relationship
Nursing
Occupational Therapy
Omvårdnad
Phenomenological research
Phenomenology
schoolchildren
Student Attitudes
Teaching Methods
Well Being
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Summary:Objective: The purpose of this study was to gain more knowledge about the phenomenon of the inner child in relation to health and well-being as reflected in play experienced by schoolchildren. Design/method: Participants were 20 schoolchildren recruited from a primary school in a medium-size city in central Sweden. The children who agreed to participate were 14 girls and 6 boys aged between 9 and 10 years old in grade 3. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to analyse the data consisting of the schoolchildren’s drawings and transcribed interviews. Participants’ verbal reflections on their drawings enabled deeper insight into their lived experiences of play. Results: Findings from this study demonstrate how schoolchildren are influenced by the inner child in childhood to handle conflicts, to cope, to make choices, to build relationships to connect and to dream about the future. The schoolchildren in this study developed their coping skills in conflict situations as part of friendship making. Conclusion: The value play offers for health and well-being reveals how schoolchildren are influenced by the inner child in childhood. Gaining knowledge from schoolchildren’s own voices about play makes a worthwhile contribution to research. In addition, the value play provides to schoolchildren’s health and well-being suggest that play can be an important tool as part of health education.
ISSN:0017-8969
1748-8176
1748-8176
DOI:10.1177/0017896919862299