The impact of loose-parts-play on schoolyard social participation of children with and without disabilities: A case study

BACKGROUND

Outdoor social participation in the school playground is crucial for children's socio-emotional and cognitive development. Yet, many children with disabilities in mainstream educational settings are not socially included within their peer group. We examined whether loose-parts-play (LPP), a common and cost-effective intervention that changes the playground play environment to enhance child-led free play, can promote social participation for children with and without disabilities.

METHOD

Forty-two primary school children, out of whom three had hearing loss or autism, were assessed for two baseline and four intervention sessions. We applied a mixed-method design, combining advanced sensors methodology, observations, peer nominations, self-reports, qualitative field notes and an interview with the playground teachers.

RESULTS

Findings indicated for all children a decrease during the intervention in social interactions and social play and no change in network centrality. Children without disabilities displayed also an increase in solitude play and in the diversity of interacting partners. Enjoyment of LPP was high for all children, yet children with disabilities did not benefit socially from the intervention and became even more isolated compared with baseline level.

CONCLUSIONS

Social participation in the schoolyard of children with and without disabilities did not improve during LPP in a mainstream setting. Findings emphasize the need to consider the social needs of children with disabilities when designing playground interventions and to re-think about LPP philosophy and practices to adapt them to inclusive settings and goals.

Social connectedness at the playground before and after COVID-19 school closure

Social connectedness at school is crucial to children's development, yet very little is known about the way it has been affected by school closures during COVID-19 pandemic. We compared pre-post lockdown levels of social connectedness at a school playground in forty-three primary school-aged children, using wearable sensors, observations, peer nominations and self-reports. Upon school reopening, findings from sensors and peer nominations indicated increases in children's interaction time, network diversity and network centrality. Group observations indicated a decrease in no-play social interactions and an increase in children's involvement in social play. Explorative analyses did not reveal relations between changes in peer connectedness and pre-lockdown levels of peer connectedness or social contact during the lockdown period. Findings pointed at the role of recess in contributing to children's social well-being and the importance of attending to their social needs upon reopening.

Correction: Nasri et al. A Novel Data-Driven Approach to Examine Children's Movements and Social Behaviour in Schoolyard Environments. Children 2022, 9, 1177

The authors request the following corrections because the changes made according to the second round of the review process were not included in the original publication [...].