IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2022i1p350-d1015216.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Development and Validation of an Outdoor Free Play Scale for Preschool Children

Author

Listed:
  • Sixian Li

    (School of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

  • Qianyi Jiang

    (State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Chenyu Deng

    (School of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China)

Abstract

Children’s outdoor free play, which is characterized by intensive physical engagement and diverse social interactions, plays a unique role in early childhood development and education. However, existing scales cannot comprehensively measure children’s performance in outdoor free play. The research purpose of this study was to develop and validate an Outdoor Free Play Scale for Children-Preschool Version (OFPS-P) with good reliability and validity, in order to provide a practical tool for teachers to understand the level of children’s outdoor free play. Based on the review of existing scales of children’s play and the uniqueness of children’s outdoor free play, we developed a scale with 12 items and validated the scale with two samples of preschool children with exploratory (n sample1 = 140) and confirmatory (n sample2 = 241) factor analyses. Four factors were identified in this scale: physical fitness, approaches to learning, social interaction, and imagination. The results indicated good reliability and validity of OFPS-P, which can be used to evaluate preschool children’s performance on outdoor free play and to support teachers’ effective support in outdoor play activities in kindergartens.

Suggested Citation

  • Sixian Li & Qianyi Jiang & Chenyu Deng, 2022. "The Development and Validation of an Outdoor Free Play Scale for Preschool Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:350-:d:1015216
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/350/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/350/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:mpr:mprres:4373 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Julie Ernst & Firdevs Burcak, 2019. "Young Children’s Contributions to Sustainability: The Influence of Nature Play on Curiosity, Executive Function Skills, Creative Thinking, and Resilience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-22, August.
    3. Avril Johnstone & Anne Martin & Rita Cordovil & Ingunn Fjørtoft & Susanna Iivonen & Boris Jidovtseff & Frederico Lopes & John J. Reilly & Hilary Thomson & Valerie Wells & Paul McCrorie, 2022. "Nature-Based Early Childhood Education and Children’s Social, Emotional and Cognitive Development: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-30, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Serap Sevimli-Celik & Begum Canaslan-Akyar, 2024. "Pre-schoolers in nature: A five-week play & learning experience within a Turkish context," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(1), pages 87-101, March.
    2. Boris Jidovtseff & Florence Pirard & Anne Martin & Paul McCrorie & Andora Vidal & Elodie Pools, 2022. "Parental Assessment of Benefits and of Dangers Determines Children’s Permission to Play Outdoors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Claudia Melis & Per-Arvid Wold & Kathrine Bjørgen & Børge Moe, 2020. "Norwegian Kindergarten Children’s Knowledge about the Environmental Component of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Yunjin Wang & Cheryl Desha & Savindi Caldera & Tanja Beer, 2024. "Roles of Urban Green Spaces for Children in High-Density Metropolitan Areas during Pandemics: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-24, January.
    5. Avril Johnstone & Anne Martin & Rita Cordovil & Ingunn Fjørtoft & Susanna Iivonen & Boris Jidovtseff & Frederico Lopes & John J. Reilly & Hilary Thomson & Valerie Wells & Paul McCrorie, 2022. "Nature-Based Early Childhood Education and Children’s Social, Emotional and Cognitive Development: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-30, May.
    6. Johan Colding & Matteo Giusti & Andreas Haga & Marita Wallhagen & Stephan Barthel, 2020. "Enabling Relationships with Nature in Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, May.
    7. Julie Ernst & Kerri McAllister & Pirkko Siklander & Rune Storli, 2021. "Contributions to Sustainability through Young Children’s Nature Play: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-36, July.
    8. Thomas Beery & Ola Magntorn, 2021. "Pre-Service Early Childhood Educator Experience in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    9. Miriam Romero-López & M. Carmen Pichardo & Judit Bembibre-Serrano & Trinidad García-Berbén, 2020. "Promoting Social Competence in Preschool with an Executive Functions Program Conducted by Teachers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Thomas Beery, 2020. "Exploring Access to Nature Play in Urban Parks: Resilience, Sustainability, and Early Childhood," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-18, June.
    11. Oliver Traynor & Paul McCrorie & Nai Rui Chng & Anne Martin, 2022. "Evaluating Outdoor Nature-Based Early Learning and Childcare Provision for Children Aged 3 Years: Protocol of a Feasibility and Pilot Quasi-Experimental Design," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-25, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:350-:d:1015216. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.