Outdoor environmental assessment of attention promoting settings for preschool children

Abstract

The restorative potential of green outdoor environments for children in preschool settings was investigated by measuring the attention of children playing in settings with different environmental features. Eleven preschools with outdoor environments typical for the Stockholm area were assessed using the outdoor play environment categories (OPEC) and the fraction of visible sky from play structures (sky view factor), and 198 children, aged 4.5–6.5 years, were rated by the staff for inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive behaviors with the ECADDES tool. Children playing in large and integrated outdoor areas containing large areas of trees, shrubbery and a hilly terrain showed less often behaviors of inattention (p<.05). The choice of tool for assessment of attention is discussed in relation to outdoor stay and play characteristics in Swedish preschool settings. The results indicate that the restorative potential of green outdoor environments applies also to preschool children and that environmental assessment tools as OPEC can be useful when to locate and develop health-promoting land adjacent to preschools.

Introduction

Green outdoor environment may be important to young children's health and development, as indicated by studies in the Scandinavian countries. Children in preschools with a green outdoor environment get higher levels of physical activity and more optimal levels of UV radiation (Boldeman et al., 2004; Söderström et al, 2004; Boldmann et al., 2006), improved motor development (Fjörtoft, 2001) and are absent fewer days due to illness (Söderström and Blennow, 1998; Grahn et al., 1997), compared to children in preschools with a more barren environment. The quality of physical environments at day care centers, renamed preschools in Sweden, is important for 86% of the children 1–5 years old who spend a majority of their waking hours at a preschool (National Agency for Education, 2007). Some preschools have outdoor stay all day or the major part of it, making them extremely dependent on the quality of preschool yard and public spaces such as playgrounds, parks and urban forests.

The green structure is continuously exploited in urban areas and the relative importance of density and green areas for a sustainable development, is subject to dispute. In an overview of how the quality of outdoor environments at preschools is safeguarded in the Nordic countries it was concluded that there is a lack of planning incentives in the area (Nordic Council of Ministers, 2007). The standard of outdoor environments varies widely and depends on local policies. Research can contribute by investigating the health potentials of staying in different types of outdoor environments and to develop tools for environmental assessment.

The development of the outdoor play environment categories (OPEC) is based on data from the video-tracking of children in different preschool settings (Mårtensson, 2004). The environmental features of the tool are motivated by characteristics found to be typical for agile outdoor play sequences (Mårtensson and Boldemann, 2008). The OPEC tool suggests that the play potential of large and integrated spaces with plentiful greenery and varied topography is higher, than that of small areas with open spaces, vegetation and play structures located in separate parts of the environment.

The sky view factor is another plausible tool for the evaluation of children's outdoor environments. The sky view factor defines the fraction of sky from a given position on the ground, i.e. sky that is uncovered by objects such as trees, buildings, etc. In this study the sky view factor is calculated from defined play areas (as play structures) to get an overall measure of the proximity between greenery and the children playing in the setting. Greenery is considered of major importance to promote outdoor play in preschool settings (Cosco, 2006; Grahn et al., 1997; Herrington and Studtmann, 1998; Mårtensson, 2004).

The attention restoration theory (Kaplan, 1995) defines two types of attention, (1) directed attention and (2) involuntary attention, sometimes called soft fascination. During directed attention the cognitive capacity to pursuit tasks and goals involves the inhibition of potentially distracting factors such as noise or the suppression of more immediate wishes and impulses. Directed attention is a demanding activity and a limited cognitive resource. When this resource is depleted, a state of directed attention fatigue may develop. Typical for this mental state is distractibility, restlessness, and forgetfulness. It is then important to create a situation in which the person can rely on involuntary attention that is a more effortless and interest driven form of attention. Natural environments contain many elements and characteristics that promote soft fascination and facilitate the recovery of directed attention, according to the attention restoration theory. In a dense social and physical environment with many tasks to fulfill it may be difficult to withdraw sufficiently to get the sleep or the rest required for recovery in a less severe state of attention fatigue. Green surroundings can make restoration possible as part of ongoing events in everyday life. For adults, even a glimpse out of the window can be restorative (Kaplan, 2001). It has been suggested that preschools belong to those potentially stressful settings in which very young children may take advantage of restorative environment as well (Kuo and Faber Taylor, 2004).

Several studies on adults demonstrate a correlation between the experience of nature and the improvement of the cognitive capacity required for directed attention (Hartig et al., 1991, Hartig et al., 2003; Kuo, 2001; Ottosson and Grahn, 2005). For school age children the attention restoration theory has generated studies on the relation between greenery in everyday environment and different aspects of mental wellbeing. Green surroundings to dwellings have been positively related to impulse control in 7–12-year-old girls (Faber Taylor et al., 2001a). In studies on children having been diagnosed for behaviors of impulsivity, hyperactivity and attention deficit, these behaviors were experienced as less severe when after-school and weekend activities took place in green outdoor settings (Faber Taylor et al., 2001b; Kuo and Faber Taylor, 2004). For a group of children 7–12 years old the relocation to a more green dwelling environment was correlated to improved cognitive functioning (Wells, 2000). Direct effects on attention after a 20 min walk in a park versus a built setting, have also been demonstrated for a group of children with attention deficit hyperactive syndrome, 7–12-year old (Faber Taylor and Kuo, 2009).

For children of preschool ages there has not been any systematic study of green outdoor environments as a restorative environment. In a pilot study on children (4–6 years) 1991–1992 it was found that extended periods of play in a green outdoor environment were related to a higher degree of attention, compared to children spending shorter time outdoors in a well equipped but more barren environment (Grahn et al., 1997). It was a small study in which children in an urban area were compared with children living in the countryside, which might well explain the differences. An adapted version of an instrument originally developed for attention assessment in schoolchildren (ADDES) was used, as the tool adapted to children of preschool age (ECADDES), was not yet developed then.

This study investigates if green outdoor environments promoting children's physical activity, as previously analyzed (Boldemann et al., 2006), have effect on children's attention, as suggested by the attention restoration theory. The study could contribute to the development of tools for assessing health-promoting outdoor environments from the perspective of children. The primary aims of this study were to investigate:

• If the attention of preschool children is related to outdoor environments with different play potential, as assessed by the OPEC instrument.

• If the attention of preschool children is related to outdoor environments with different degree of proximity between natural elements and play structures, as assessed by the sky view factor.