Children's Play Behaviour in the Urban Environment

Abstract

<p>This thesis studies the play behaviour of children, examining specifically their choice of environments, reasons for the selection, activities in each place, and territorial range. Using a questionnaire, data were collected from children in Grade Five or Six in two public schools in Burlington, Ontario. The results of the study show that children play in a wide range of environments - parks, planned indoor recreation centres, schoolgrounds, home areas, streets, institutions, general open space areas, and commercial places. Seven types of reasons were mentioned, including design, function, and locational characteristics of play places. Activities mentioned included both active and passive types, and solitary and group play. Hypotheses relating play behaviour to the personal characteristics of the children were tested. Several significant relationships emerged, with sex and housing type being the most useful independent variables. Other variables considered were length of residence, number of siblings, amount of play with parents, mobility, extra-curricular lessons, occupational aspiration, and amount of television-viewing. Implications of the results for the planning of play environments are discussed in the concluding chapter.</p>