New larger preschool facilities changing the game for outdoor stay in Swedish preschools

• The preschool outdoor environment is vital for children´s opportunity to play and learning in contact with nature. An everyday practice of free play in spacious settings, which are green and varied, have documented effects on physical activity and other health outcomes as sleep and attention. A new generation of large-scale preschool facilities in two floors offer new conditions for outdoor stay by the introduction of introducing staircases, elevators, larger distances e t c and some new approaches to the design and content of the outdoor environment. Some of the change is associated with the larger scale of facilities and overall trends in planning and design, but also factors in the organisation of preschool services and the approach to outdoors stay among pedagogues. This is the report of a systematic investigation of 21 old (built 1952-1989) and new preschool-facilities (2013-2021) in a middle-sized municipality in the north of Sweden based on inventories, mapping and interviews with staff and children. The overall goal is to scrutinize what the trend towards larger preschool-units can imply for children´s outdoor stay. The result show that the overall quality of the immediate outdoor environment do not differ substantially between old and new preschools in the municipality, but point out a set of factors in the design and management of large-scale preschool facilities which can counteract children´s play-flow, direct nature meetings and social life when outdoors in preschool.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Annan hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Other Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

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