The webinar Let the Tots Play – Adventures in Early Childhood Physical Activity provided some interesting insight into improving physical activity in daycare centers. It focused on two states’ initiatives, New Hampshire and Texas. One topic that was covered in the webinar was particularly interesting – preventing obesity by design in childcare centers.
Modifying the built environment is a popular public health initiative. The idea is to design the environment and infrastructure in a way that promotes physical activity. Mixed-land use and aesthetically pleasing walking paths help to incorporate physical activity more naturally into the day. It was reported in the webinar that being outdoors is the strongest correlate of physical activity. Why not extend this idea to playgrounds at childcare centers? Young children are not going to exercise for thirty minutes at one time, so it is imperative that they have an environment that motivates them to be active. This was the idea of NC State College of Design, and they created the Natural Learning Initiative. It involved designing playgrounds or outdoor spaces in a way that promotes movement and richer play. Their idea worked – redesigning a playground caused 22% improvement in movement among the children. These new spaces, now called an Outdoor Learning Environments instead of playgrounds, provide plenty of space and appropriate activities for young children to play.
What is the magic formula to creating a beautiful Outdoor Learning Environment? The Natural Learning Initiative developed several Best Practices that daycare centers or even parents can incorporate into their playgrounds and backyards to promote developmentally appropriate play. One of the major structural elements is a looping, curvy pathway. This provides a fun track for kids to use on foot or their tricycles, and adding curves to the path increases their activity time. They also recommend creating 10 or more learning settings, or different areas with activities to do. Smaller settings are commonly seen in indoor spaces of daycare centers, so why not bring it outside? Other large structural elements to include are a multipurpose lawn, designated vegetable garden, and an enclosed outdoor classroom space. If these changes are out of reach due to space and cost, small changes can be made. For instance, providing shady settings, trees (especially edible fruit trees), shrubs, vines, and ornamental grasses are little ways to perk up the space with natural elements. It Is also recommended to provide wheeled toys and natural, loose materials for children to play with.
While these Best Practices may seem simple, consider the playground that you had at your daycare or elementary school. Don’t these suggestions seem more inviting? Incorporating edible fruit trees and gardens can also promote nutrition and agriculture education. These types of initiatives targeting young children are exciting and important ways to combat childhood obesity.
To learn more about the Natural Learning Initiative, visit their website: https://naturalearning.org
Yes, making an enticing physical activity environment is key for anyone, especially kids, to be more encouraged to use it!
I like the idea of fruit trees to combat obesity in this type of controlled environment, but my only concern is that it may teach children that any and all trees with fruit in other environments are safe to take and consume… Do you think this may have the potential to establish a dangerous habit?
Emily,
Interesting topic. Before this class, and really before reading your post, I was not exposed to an “Outdoor Learning Environment”, which is now surprising to me because of my health and physical education background. I guess this is because our focus was on our primary learning environment (the gym). Moving past K-12 physical education, I have a strong connection and new-found interest in these recreational play/activity areas. I love how the main idea is to promote physical activity and learning.
Suggestions made by Best Practices do seem quite simple and really just make sense. Things like having plenty of shade areas, multiple play settings with different activities, a multi-purpose field, and a circular track all make sense if you think about attracting people, but unfortunately most recreational play areas (potential outdoor learning environments) did not have this big picture in mind when building. Saving money is usually the primary focus, but because of our obesity and inactivity rates in the US, it appears that recently we have changed our lens.
In the last few years I have noticed an increase in recreation areas and updates to many, which appear to be planned to be more attracting to people. Target audience is something to really look into when designing an Outdoor Learning Environment. I assume the majority of them are tailored to fit elementary age children, but if the community is closer to a middle or high school then they would probably make some adaptions.
I wonder who/how those gardens and fruit trees would be monitored and maintained?
There might be someone who works/volunteers to teach agriculture education and promote nutrition to the surrounding community. Today, local elementary school playgrounds would be likely candidates, so I would assume that health and physical education teachers would be options, along with agriculture teachers, public health employees, and community volunteers.
Appreciate the post!