Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

School grounds are a kind of outdoor playscape that can influence the way in which children play and act. They are as important as school buildings to the overall well- being of our children. The main reason that makes school grounds so important lays in the fact that all children have access to this kind of playscape. A perfect school ground should contribute to children's educational, recreational and social needs. Also, it could act as a safe playscape for children with different backgrounds where parental concerns and problems do not inhibit play.
In this paper I want to show that a school ground can be something more than the empty space outside the school's building. It is an important place full of opportunities which are missing in children's life; opportunities for active, challenging and collaborative plays and activities. Lack of these activities in children's life can cause some health and behavioral problems in their future life.
The theoretical part of this paper explains the different kinds of outdoor playscape for children and also the importance of play in children's life. This part will narrow down to school grounds as the main subject in this paper and talk about some guidelines to design this important place in order to be beneficial for children's development from different perspectives.
In the field study part, two school grounds in Stockholm are studied to understand if these school grounds fulfill children's different needs and in what kinds of activities and plays children are engaged during recess and finally the differences between girls and boys in using their school ground.
The paper finishes with some proposals for one of the school grounds which is considered as a barren and inefficient ground according to the literature. The concept is to have a diverse play scape for children that provide them with different rooms and spaces for different activities according to children's own imagination. And also to give children the opportunity to socialize in calm and safe places far from functional play.