Bacteria are commonly found in soil and may cause health risks to children playing in the outdoor playgrounds with soil, mainly via hand to mouth and pica behaviors. Our study concerned with the risk ...analysis of infection of a child playing in urban playgrounds in the cities of Patras and Pyrgos in Greece. The presence of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were analyzed in soil samples of these playgrounds. A standardized questionnaire depicted the individual characteristics of each playground and recorded risk factors in playgrounds related to bacterial infections. Furthermore, the distributions of E. coli, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa were analyzed in soil samples. Our results were investigated with beta‐Poisson models using the Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment wiki models to evaluate and construct a probability model of infection for each of these bacteria. The risk of infection was higher during the wet period. The risk was higher for P. aeruginosa infection compared to E. coli and S. aureus ones. Nevertheless, the bacterial concentration was higher for E. coli than P. aeruginosa and S. aureus in both wet and dry periods. Our results provide new data that could contribute in assessing the risks associated with playgrounds where children can unaware play in urban parks.
Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death to children worldwide, and playgrounds pose a significant risk of injury. Those aged 5 and 6 years are particularly vulnerable to playground ...injuries. Previous interventions have typically targeted environmental modifications or increased supervision to reduce playground injuries; however, minimal research has focused on implementing behavioral interventions that seek to change children's safety knowledge and risk-taking behaviors on the playground. The current randomized trial addressed these gaps in the literature and sought to increase preschool children's hazard awareness skills and knowledge of unsafe playground behaviors and decrease their intentions to engage in risk-taking behaviors on the playground.
A total of 77 children aged 5 and 6 years were tested at a laboratory on a university campus, using a parallel group design, with 38 randomized to the playground intervention group and 39 randomly assigned to a control group. The intervention was manualized and delivered to small groups of children (3-5) over several sessions.
Statistical analyses revealed significant group differences. Intervention experience led to significant increases in hazard awareness skills and knowledge of unsafe playground behaviors, and significant decreases in children's risk-taking behavioral intentions, whereas those in the control group showed no significant changes in these scores. Attention scores for those in the intervention group highlighted that the program content was successful in maintaining children's attention and engagement, and memory scores indicated excellent retention of lesson content.
The program shows promise in addressing the issue of unintentional playground injuries in young children.
The article discusses the relevance of modern play spaces to the tasks of the mental and physical child development, as well as modern approaches to the examination of children's outdoor play ...environment. A historical analysis of changes in domestic and foreign theories about ideas - what kind of playground children need, also empirical studies of child behavior at different play environment allow us to highlight the main lines of psychological and pedagogical analysis of play spaces. New standards in the field of education and development, as well as in designing educational environment, the request of teachers and designers (architects, engineers) makes relevant to work out the methodological support of the creation of play environment. Interdisciplinary approach and dialogue in this area will allow us to solve the problem of designing such play environment that meets the tasks of the child development.
В статье рассматриваются вопросы соответствия современных игровых сред и их частного случая — детских площадок — задачам психического и физического развития ребенка, а также современные подходы к экспертизе детских уличных игровых сред. Исторический анализ изменения отечественных и зарубежных представлений о том, какая площадка нужна детям, полученные в эмпирических исследованиях факты о поведении детей в разных игровых средах позволяют выделить основные линии психолого-педагогического анализа игровой среды. Появление новых нормативов в области воспитания и развития, а также в области проектирования образовательной среды, запрос педагогов-практиков и проектировщиков (архитекторов, инженеров) делают актуальным методологическое и методическое сопровождение процессов создания игровых сред. Междисциплинарный подход и диалог в этой области позволят решить задачу создания игровых сред, отвечающих задачам психического и физического развития ребенка.
Lead contamination is widespread across China, posing a serious public health concern. In quantifying child lead exposure, established health risk assessment (HRA) approaches often take into account ...residential soil lead levels. However, this may not constitute a significant exposure source for children in urban mainland China, where the population mainly dwell in high-rise buildings without back or front yards. In this setting, children's playgrounds may represent a more probable exposure source. The present study analyzed lead levels in settled dust on playground equipment and in surficial soils at 71 playgrounds in Beijing, China. Our results reveal that the average playground dust lead concentration was 80.5 mg/kg, more than twice the average soil lead concentration of 36.2 mg/kg. It was found that there are differences in statistical and spatial distributions for lead in playground dust and soils. Lead levels in equipment dust were largely consistent across Beijing, with elevated levels detected at locations in the main city area, the newly developed Tongzhou District, and the rural counties. Whereas average soil lead concentrations were higher at playgrounds in the main city area than other areas of Beijing. Statistical analysis suggests that the lead content in dust and soil may derive from different natural and anthropogenic sources. Equipment dust lead may be associated with long-distance atmospheric transportation and deposition. Whereas lead in soil is more likely to be associated with local traffic. This study also found that, in certain areas of Beijing, the risk of blood lead levels (BLLs) exceeding safe levels was up to 6 times higher when based on dust exposure than when based on playground soil exposure. The results of this study suggests that HRA undertaken for children in urban mainland China should pay closer attention to children's playgrounds as a lead exposure source, and, in particular, playground equipment dust.
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•Analyzed Pb in soil and equipment dust at 71 playgrounds in Beijing.•Average dust Pb concentration was more than twice that of soil.•Pb in soil is associated with local traffic.•Pb in equipment dust is associated with long-distance atmospheric transportation.•HRA in urban mainland china should pay attention to children's playgrounds.
Lead in equipment dust at children's playgrounds poses a much higher health risk than surficial soil in Beijing, China.
Children's independent access to the outdoors is often restricted by parents, making young children dependent on adult motivation for visits. Since access to play in nature can be beneficial to ...children's development and health, this study examines the accompanying adults’ motivational factors for bringing their children to playgrounds in urban green spaces. The study used on-site questionnaires to collect data in six public park playgrounds in the U.S. and Denmark, to reveal cultural similarities and differences.
The results show that the respondents have different motivations for going to a park playground. The Danish respondents find it most important to be together with their children, while the American respondents find it most important that their children are physically active whilst being there. Other results show that different factors can influence both frequency of visits and length of stays. For Danish respondents, location is very important. Pleasing green surroundings and a nearby location tends to result in more frequent visits. All respondents stay longer and visit more often if they like the social atmosphere of the playground. However, male respondents, who are more active with their children than female respondents, have shorter stays if they dislike the variety of play equipment.
Based on the results of this paper, suggestions are made as to how designers, planners and park managers can implement the results into practice, with the aim of increasing adults’ motivation for taking their children to park playgrounds.
We investigated the role of physical characteristics of kindergartens' outdoor play areas in teacher-rated physical aggression (PAgg) among 423 children followed annually from ages two to four years. ...We used data from the Behaviour Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study which follows children from southeast Norway, a country where almost all two- to four-year-old children attend kindergartens. Nesting children in kindergartens, we found two significant associations after adjustment for family selection. First, children in kindergartens with more 'secret places' in their outdoor play areas (where they could play undisturbed) had more PAgg at baseline. Second, children in kindergartens with more adult supervision of their use of outdoor play material showed a less steep decrease in PAgg over time. If causal, these associations would suggest that children in kindergartens should not play completely unmonitored but also that teachers should not control children's outdoor play excessively.
Pada era 4.0 hari ini, dunia pendidikan bersinggungan langsung dengan perkembangan teknologi yang pesat, sehingga hampir seluruh proses telah berbasis teknologi. Teknologi digunakan untuk menunjang ...seluruh kegiatan pembelajaran, salah satunya sebagai media pembelajaran. Bentuk media berbasis teknologi ini contohnya adalah Math Playground. Media ini mampu membentuk pengalaman belajar matematika yang menyenangkan dan bermakna bagi anak. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki bagaimana Math Playground diterapkan di kelas IV MIN Rejang Lebong (RL) serta untuk mengetahui apakah Math Playground mampu mendukung karakteristik pendidikan era 4.0. Penelitian merupakan penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan field research melalui wawancara, observasi dan dokumentasi sebagai teknik pengumpulan datanya. Berdasarkan temuan penelitian, diketahui bahwa tahapan penggunaan Math Playground di MIN RL meliputi identifikasi kebutuhan, pengenalan kepada siswa, penerapan dalam pembelajaran, dan evaluasi. Kesimpulan yang kedua dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Math Playground mampu membentuk pengalaman belajar yang mengasyikkan dan menyenangkan sehingga dapat membantu siswa memahami konsep pembelajaran yang diajarkan oleh guru. Selain itu, Math Playground juga mampu meningkatkan karakteristik pendidikan 4.0. Karakteristik di bidang keterampilan digital karena melalui math playground intensitas siswa dalam menggunakan teknologi digital akan meningkat. Selanjutnya, pada bidang pendidikan khusus karena pada tahap pemilihan konten, guru dapat menyesuaikan konten matematika yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan dan minat siswa yakni bermain sambil belajar.
In the 1960s, many municipalities set up children's playground because of the high number of traffic accidents in which children playing on the road were victims. Amagasaki city, the study site, also ...established children's playground （Kodomo Hiroba）to prevent children's accidents. This project was started in 1968. There were 216 children's playground in the city as of 2017. One of the characteristics of these playground is that the municipalities set the outline for their installation and proceeded with the installation. Therefore, the project can be developed in accordance with the actual situation of the municipality. The purposes of this study are to clarify the outline and transformation of the projects for establishing children's playground in Amagasaki City by organizing the project policies and actual conditions of the development of children's playground and to exam the characteristics and policy significance of the projects Amagasaki city at the time of the project is the lack of land for parks due to geographical and social conditions. Therefore, it was difficult to establish a city park. Through the research, following were identified. First of all, it is about the project of installing Children’s playground.1) Amagasaki city set up a variety of ways to secure children's playground quickly and in large numbers. The children's playground was set up in three ways: (1) the installation of children's playground on low or unused land (2) the installation of children's playground in the corner of the playground equipment that had already been installed (3) Entrusting the installation to a private operator. As a result, many playgrounds of different characteristics in different locations and areas were established in the city. 2)The installation was entrusted to the private sector. Around 1980, children's playground was shifted from the " Neighborhood type" (where the city leased land to the owner of the land and set up the playground) to the "apartment type" (where the private sector set up the playground at the time of development). 3) There was no reasonable standard to evaluate the projects established in children's playground when the project was reviewed. Amagasaki City explains that the reason for their abolition is that few people use children’s playground by a decrease in the youth population. However, block parks are used on a daily basis by a wide range of age groups, and so are the playground. The decision to review the project of the children's playground on such weak grounds is not reasonable. In addition to the above, the characteristic of the project for children's playground in Amagasaki city is that it was established on low and unused land obtained in cooperation with various sectors. The policy significance of the project to establish children's playground in Amagasaki City provided citizens with a variety of options for places to relax by constructing. Children's playground is not only served as a complement to city parks for residents in areas where city parks are not yet established, but also as a place of relaxation for residents in areas where city parks have been established.
This study is focused on four Biobio region cities, Concepcion, Talcahuano, Los Ángeles, and Tomé; these cities flourished very close to different industrial activities. We determined a pseudo total ...concentration of seven heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) in playground soils through inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Principal components analysis (PCA) revealed that contamination in soils comes from three principal sources. Firstly, industrial and burning activities; secondly, the use of phytosanitary and chemical products; and thirdly, vehicular traffic emissions. Zn and Cu are the most abundant analyzed elements in all the playground’s soils. Concepción reflected the lowest values of pollutants and Talcahuano the highest, reflecting the industrial effects. The average values of the analyzed elements were Cr = 32.90 mg kg
−1
; Ni = 23.76 mg kg
−1
; Cu = 31.51 mg kg
−1
; Zn = 63.69 mg kg
−1
; As = 19.51 mg kg
−1
; Cd = 0.50 mg kg
−1
; and Pb = 17.59 mg kg
−1
. Anomalously high values of some elements were found Cu = 462.73 mg kg
−1
, Zn = 364.39 mg kg
−1
, As = 34.7 mg kg
−1
in Talcahuano, Cd = 1.6 mg kg
−1
in Tome, and Pb = 55.59 mg kg
−1
in Los Ángeles. Nevertheless, according to international guideline values of pollutants (VROM
2000
and ADEC
2010
) there is no risk for children in any playground studied but all playgrounds are a potential risk for the environment. It points out the necessity to continue studying and monitoring Chilean urban playground to prevent health problems in the population.
Graphical abstract
Scholars have criticized the capacity of playgrounds to support children's participation in public life. Fences of childhood, such as walls, fences, and enclosures, dominate children's “public” ...spatial experiences in the global north. Challenging well-established critiques of the fenced playground as a space that segregates and controls childhood experiences, this study offers a novel and nuanced perspective, emphasizing the qualities of the playground fence that support play and playful connections, on, through, and around it. Employing an ethnographic methodology, this study includes 167h of observations in three typical urban public playgrounds in Greece and 65 semi-structured interviews with 124 participants. Drawing on recursive thematic qualitative analysis, the fence emerges as a blurred boundary, that is, an element that transgresses assumptions and questions spatial classifications and hierarchies. Rarely the subject of design discourse, these findings are particularly significant in design disciplines globally and offer new understandings on the possibilities afforded by the playground fence. Emergent themes, namely, indeterminacy, climbabilty, playability, and porosity, are proposed as principles to guide fenced playground design as part of a fundamental reconceptualization. This reconceptualization positions the fenced playground as a public space infrastructure, supporting intergenerational interaction and play as well as children's presence and play in the public realm.
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