Title: Plain English: Wave 3 Summary of findings: Play
1Plain English Wave 3 Summary of findings Play
- Presented to COI Communications and The DCSF
- Presented by Marnie Freeman
-
- April 2008
2Section oneObjectives and methodology
3Research objectives
- To gain a deeper understanding of childrens and
parents perspective on play and play provision
(quantity, quality, and accessibility) - To understand the extent to which the type and
range of play provision influences childrens and
parents attitudes to play -
- To inform communications with children, parents
and carers on play provision in terms of tone,
language and terms they use themselves -
- To assess how to make existing play facilities
more appealing -
- To gauge what children and parents want in terms
of new play facilities (quality, supervision,
location, opening times, transport) -
- To understand any gender differences in play
experiences -
- To learn about what parents know in terms of the
benefits of different kinds of play
4Overview of sample
- Eight triads with kids
- Four with girls and four with boys
- 8 to 9
- 9 to 10
- 10 to 11
- 11 to 12
- Four parents groups
- Three with mums and one with dads
- In four locations
- Dudley, NE Somerset , Telscombe Cliffs and
Slough - In February 2008
5Section two Summary of findings
6What is play?
- The term outside play spans a diverse range of
activities, reaching beyond - traditional definitions
- This has implications for how the term is defined
and brought to life in communications - Need to be specific about the type of play being
communicated - Outside play gives children a sense of freedom
and exhilaration they seldom feel in other areas
of their life - Other benefits include
- Social interaction
- Physical exercise and risk taking
- Learning about the world and personal
responsibility
7The positives of outside play
- Kids love being outside it makes them feel alive
and free - Emotional benefits are more top of mind than the
physical ones
Emotional Happy Excited Fun Freedom (and
from adults)
Social Playing with friends Communicating
Making new friends (under 9s) Interaction with
others (genders, ages)
Learning Sense of responsibility Independence
...about the world around them Road and
cycling safety
Physical Raring to go - burning off energy
Fitness Freedom Fresh air
8Gender differences
Boys are rougher and like to get messy and muddy,
girls worry about their hair talk more (Girl
10, Slough)
- Clear gender differences emerged implications for
range of resources available -
- If they dont have access to the same gender
playmates in their local communities there is
evidence of more mixed gender playing - always
better to play with someone - As they enter the tween years a more definite
gender division seems to emerge with regard to
the appeal of outside play - Some girls appear to become less interested in
it, preferring to spend their time
talking/supporting and shopping with their
friends - - Organised indoor activities are more likely
to capture their interest
- Boys play is perceived as more active, and
- associated with sport/free play more than
- equipment
- More competitive, team games, fear factor, more
rough - Risk taking
- Girls are linked with more passive, dialogue
- based interaction (unless they are tomboys)
- Imagination/role play, falling out with friends,
worrying about how they look - Emotional creative
9Concerns
- Parents recognise the benefits of children
playing outside but have a range of - concerns
- Stranger danger (paedophiles, abduction, abuse
etc) - Bullying from older teens is causing anxiety
around letting their kids out to play on their
own - Lack of community values and support
- Less pronounced in the rural areas which had a
stronger sense of community - Younger children (up to 9/10 years) are always
accompanied by an adult when playing - outside, unless they are playing in their back
garden (Assuming that they have one) - Parents deferring letting their children out on
their own until 11/12 years (sometimes older) - The notable exception are children living in
rural and semi rural areas who have more freedom
at a younger age to explore the area within a
short distance of their home
10Concerns
- There is a perception that their children are
safer in more public and busy places - And that parks/open spaces can be more sinister
places, where their children can be exposed/
vulnerable to more trouble - Or get into trouble themselves
- Parents appear to be more comfortable with
allowing their children the freedom to go to
shopping centres/cinemas with their friends, than
they are allowing them to go to parks/open spaces
unaccompanied by an adult - Shopping centres - the alternative playground
11Access
- Most children in this sample had access to a
range of parks and open spaces - Whilst the quality and range of equipment varied
between locations, the overwhelming factors
affecting usage were - The presence/threatened presence of intimidating
teenagers - The state of the equipment, which could often be
out of order as vandalised - Parents and children offer clear guidance
regarding what they want from parks - More naturally inspired play rather than
structured man-made equipment (wood, water,
trees) - Equipment which encourages risk taking in a safe
environment - Segregated by age
- Well maintained and updated
- Secured at night to protect from vandalism
12Current provision
- Currently, children under the age of 8/9 years
were felt to be well catered for - Swings, slides, roundabouts
- Bright colours
- Physical, exploratory, imaginative play
- However, parents and children highlighted a gap
in provision for 9 to13 year olds (tweens) - For this age range there was a call for
- Activities and equipment that are mentally and
physically challenging - Boys strongly supported the idea of astroturf for
football and for some, skate parks (particularly
Telscombe) - In essence, tweens are looking for assault
courses rather than playgrounds
13How they find out about outdoor play provision
- Parents talk to other parents
- They tend to find out about whats going on from
each other, especially if they live locally - Including the good parks to go to and those to
avoid - Pester power is also a source of information
- None recalled finding out about parks and outdoor
play provision through local media - LA websites, leaflets, local paper, radio
- Either receiving information or seeking it out
- If there has been communication relating to play
it seems parents in the sample were unaware of it
- Word of mouth is the main source of information-
parents rely on others to find out - about new and exciting play areas
14The ideal
It is better to keep it separate, so we can see
which part is for us and so we dont knock the
little ones over as well (Boy 12, Telscombe)
- Consistent themes across the four locations
- Free play rather than structured
- A good range of equipment suitable for varied
ages - Clearly segregated but still close to each other
(so parents can still see older kids if need to) - There is a preference (for the over 6s) to have
more natural things to enable varied free play
rather than more structured equipment - Wood preferred to plastic
- Metal disliked by many as it rusts, gets hot and
cold - Parents and older children (9) are keen for
facilities that encourage an element of risk
taking and challenge - Climbing, jumping, swinging, sliding etc
- All kids enjoy having access to private spaces
e.g. Tree houses, dens - Safe water play that allows kids hands on
interaction e.g. Sprinklers, shallow pools - Children are looking for adventure style
playgrounds that fuel their imaginations
15Supported by...
- In current social climate they cannot imagine
their ideal remaining ideal for very - long!
Good toilet facilities Especially needed for
little ones
Cafe Something for parents
Good maintenance Of equipment and environment
(Park keepers)
No dog mess Ensuring it all gets cleared up!
Investment To keep well maintained To ring
the changes
Protection/security Locked up at night , high
gates Monitored (Police CCTV)
Opening times Everyday of the year From dawn
to dusk
16Choices by age and gender
Under 5s Exploratory play Imaginative play
6 to 9s Physical play Co-operative play Social
play Achievable challenges
10 to 13s Challenges Fitness, agility Endurance So
cial
Equipment Slides Swings Tunnels Water Sand Wendy
houses
Equipment Slides Swings Tunnels Climbing
wall Trampolines (Girl bias) Camps to build/log
cabin Tree climbing Aerial run way
Equipment Monkey bars Assault courses Ramps for
bikes and Skateboards Astroturf Chill out
areas
Most facilities cater well for this age range
As children grow kids demand more mentally and
physically challenging activities
Want choices of more grown up equipment, which
looks and feels different to a childish
playground
17Their choices
Brilliant! Boy 10, Dudley
Good flat pitches for football and astroturf with
flood lights for matches at night! Boy 11, Wells
Being outside and climbing trees is really
exciting, you feel a bit like a bird Girl 8,
Telscombe
18Their choices
It looks like a climbing wall, I went on one of
those once and it was brilliant Boy 12, Slough
We can sit around and chat on that Girl 12 Dudley
Things like this are good for older kids like us
Girl 11, NE Somerset
Looks like it would be a bit of a challenge to
climb Boy 12, Telscombe
19Their choices
Looks a bit bumpy and dangerous! Boy 12, Telscombe
Somewhere to sit with your mates Girl 12 Dudley
Stuff like that would be good all around the
park, you could have like a treasure hunt or
problems that you had to solve as you went around
Boy 10, NE Somerset
Kids love climbing through tunnels and hiding Mum
, Slough
20Their choices
This looks a bit boring as it doesnt look like
they can get involved with the water in any way
Mum , NE Somerset
We do this when we go to my grandmas in the
country and it is brilliant, we dont catch real
fish, we just pretend to Girl 9, Slough
This type of thing would need to be supervised,
other wise they would abuse it Dad , Dudley
21Their choices
There are drug needles in the park, I have seen
one in the sand pit Boy 11, Dudley
It look dangerous and made out of hard steel
which would hurt if you fell on it Mum ,
Telscombe
Too many primary colours for older kids, they
would probably prefer camouflage Dad , Dudley
Dull and boring, I would rather be in the
woods Girl 11, NE Somerset
22Play rangers
- Play rangers prompted some interest amongst
parents and children - Particular areas of interest include
- Offering ideas and stimulation
- Supervision and safety
- Also scope to reach out and engage tweens and
young teens - However, many questions arise regarding how they
will operate. - Any communication will need to deal with these
issues before parents/children can emotionally
connect with this idea and think of
getting/letting their children get involved - Key issues which need addressing include
- Their qualifications to work with children
- How they will manage activities and how children
can get involved - How the scheme has been developed and piloted
- How the scheme caters for children of different
ages and genders