The effect of play in natural outdoor and indoor spaces on perceptual and motor development among children

Background and Aim : The early years of life are one of the most critical periods and the most important stage in human development. Also, many factors affect the child development process. One of the most important this factors is environmental factors. Environmental stimulation plays a critical role in optimal human development during the early stages of life and an optimal level of development occurs with strong contextual support. Nature provides readily accessible locations for play and attracts people outdoors because of the unique experiences offered, compared to play and physical activity in urban or manufactured settings. Also Playing and moving are essential to the young children’s lives. Play allows children to use their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play includes Physical activities that use physical movements to allow children to use their energy, and it gives children the chance to develop gross and fine motor skills, learn new things and socialize. Physical play also benefits a child s health. Understanding the importance of physical play is vital to your child s development. Therefore purpose of this study was to investigate The effect of play in outdoor and indoor space on perceptual and motor development among preschool children .Methods : In recent research semi-experimental research design with pretest–posttest design in two groups was used by convenient method. Statistical sample of research consisted of 30 pre-school children 4.5-6.5 years including N=15 Nature School (as outdoor) and N=15 kindergarten (as indoor). To measure motor development was used, Bruininks-oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, to assess perceptual development, the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test.Results : Results of mixed ANOVA showed that activity in outdoor space had positive and significant effect on the all of variables of this research (motor development: p=.0001, perceptual development: p=.0001). While activity indoor space had a significant effect on perceptual development (p=.013). But playing in nature had a greater effect on the perceptual development of children than indoor space. So that 84% of changes in motor development of children and 88% of changes in their visual-motor Integration were due to outdoor activities.Conclusion : Therefore, the natural environment (outdoor) has a greater improvement in the perceptual and motor development among children. Our explanation of the unique benefits of nature-based exercise is centred on notions of affordances (Gibson’ theory) and variability. First, nature s affordances are less constrained than manufactured affordances. Second, the variability presented by nature s environments (and not genes, mental constructs, such as intention, self-efficacy or motivation; or specific brain areas) solicits immersive interactions, motor, perception and attention. Third, the experience of nature-based play provides an opportunity to develop expertise in dealing with challenging situations (as improve perception and integration perception with motor).

Keywords:

outdoor , indoor , perceptual development , motor development , children