Let the Children Play: Scoping Review on the Implementation and Use of Loose Parts for Promoting Physical Activity Participation
Active play has become a critical focus in terms of physical activity participation in young children. Unstructured or child-led play offers children the opportunity to interact with the environment in a range of different ways. Unstructured materials, often called loose parts, encourage child-led p...
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| Published in | AIMS public health Vol. 3; no. 4; pp. 781 - 799 |
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| Main Authors | , , , , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
United States
AIMS Press
01.01.2016
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| Subjects | |
| Online Access | Get full text |
| ISSN | 2327-8994 2327-8994 |
| DOI | 10.3934/publichealth.2016.4.781 |
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| Abstract | Active play has become a critical focus in terms of physical activity participation in young children. Unstructured or child-led play offers children the opportunity to interact with the environment in a range of different ways. Unstructured materials, often called loose parts, encourage child-led play, and therefore may also promote physical activity. The purpose of this scoping review was to determine what is currently known about how loose parts may influence physical activity participation. Following a systematic literature search, a total of 16 articles were retrieved, reviewed and categorized according to: (1) types of loose parts; (2) types of play; and (3) types of thinking. We found that there are currently a range of loose parts being used to support play, but the way in which they are implemented varies and there is a lack of clarity around how they might support the development of active outdoor play and physical literacy skills. |
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| AbstractList | Active play has become a critical focus in terms of physical activity participation in young children. Unstructured or child-led play offers children the opportunity to interact with the environment in a range of different ways. Unstructured materials, often called loose parts, encourage child-led play, and therefore may also promote physical activity. The purpose of this scoping review was to determine what is currently known about how loose parts may influence physical activity participation. Following a systematic literature search, a total of 16 articles were retrieved, reviewed and categorized according to: (1) types of loose parts; (2) types of play; and (3) types of thinking. We found that there are currently a range of loose parts being used to support play, but the way in which they are implemented varies and there is a lack of clarity around how they might support the development of active outdoor play and physical literacy skills.Active play has become a critical focus in terms of physical activity participation in young children. Unstructured or child-led play offers children the opportunity to interact with the environment in a range of different ways. Unstructured materials, often called loose parts, encourage child-led play, and therefore may also promote physical activity. The purpose of this scoping review was to determine what is currently known about how loose parts may influence physical activity participation. Following a systematic literature search, a total of 16 articles were retrieved, reviewed and categorized according to: (1) types of loose parts; (2) types of play; and (3) types of thinking. We found that there are currently a range of loose parts being used to support play, but the way in which they are implemented varies and there is a lack of clarity around how they might support the development of active outdoor play and physical literacy skills. Active play has become a critical focus in terms of physical activity participation in young children. Unstructured or child-led play offers children the opportunity to interact with the environment in a range of different ways. Unstructured materials, often called loose parts, encourage child-led play, and therefore may also promote physical activity. The purpose of this scoping review was to determine what is currently known about how loose parts may influence physical activity participation. Following a systematic literature search, a total of 16 articles were retrieved, reviewed and categorized according to: (1) types of loose parts; (2) types of play; and (3) types of thinking. We found that there are currently a range of loose parts being used to support play, but the way in which they are implemented varies and there is a lack of clarity around how they might support the development of active outdoor play and physical literacy skills. |
| Author | F.L. Kirk, Sara R. Stone, Michelle Turner, Joan E. Houser, Natalie Roach, Lindsay |
| AuthorAffiliation | 1 School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, 6230 South Street, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada 2 Department of Child and Youth Study, Mount Saint Vincent University, 166 Bedford Highway, Halifax, NS B3M 2J6, Canada 3 Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, PO Box 15000, Halifax, B3H 4R2 and IWK Health Centre, University Avenue, Halifax, NS, Canada |
| AuthorAffiliation_xml | – name: 1 School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, 6230 South Street, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada – name: 3 Healthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, PO Box 15000, Halifax, B3H 4R2 and IWK Health Centre, University Avenue, Halifax, NS, Canada – name: 2 Department of Child and Youth Study, Mount Saint Vincent University, 166 Bedford Highway, Halifax, NS B3M 2J6, Canada |
| Author_xml | – sequence: 1 givenname: Natalie surname: E. Houser fullname: E. Houser, Natalie – sequence: 2 givenname: Lindsay surname: Roach fullname: Roach, Lindsay – sequence: 3 givenname: Michelle surname: R. Stone fullname: R. Stone, Michelle – sequence: 4 givenname: Joan surname: Turner fullname: Turner, Joan – sequence: 5 givenname: Sara surname: F.L. Kirk fullname: F.L. Kirk, Sara |
| BackLink | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29546195$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed |
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| Cites_doi | 10.1080/1364557032000119616 10.1001/archpedi.159.1.46 10.11648/j.edu.20150401.13 10.1080/00223980.1981.9915282 10.1542/peds.2006-2697 10.1007/s10643-014-0667-0 10.2307/1130049 10.1123/pes.23.4.600 10.3390/ijerph120606475 |
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| Copyright | 2016 Michelle R. Stone, et al., licensee AIMS Press 2016 Michelle R. Stone, et al. |
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| Keywords | affordance theory loose parts active play physical literacy children unstructured play outdoor play physical activity |
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| References | Vandenberg B (18) 1981 Jones RA, Riethmuller A, Hesketh K, et al. (6) 2011 Burdette HL, Whitaker RC (9) 2005 McLoyd VC (19) 1983 Tremblay MS, Gray C, Babcock S, et al. (4) 2015 Ginsburg KR (1) 2007 Little H, Sweller N (11) 2015 Oncu EC (2) 2015 Arksey H, O’Malley L (12) 2005 |
| References_xml | – year: 2005 ident: 12 article-title: Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework publication-title: Int J Soc Res Methodol doi: 10.1080/1364557032000119616 – year: 2005 ident: 9 article-title: Resurrecting Free Play in Young Children Looking Beyond Fitness and Fatness to Attention, Affiliation, and Affect publication-title: Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med doi: 10.1001/archpedi.159.1.46 – year: 2015 ident: 2 article-title: Preschoolers’ usage of unstructured materials as play materials divergently publication-title: Educ J doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20150401.13 – year: 1981 ident: 18 article-title: Developmental Features of Children’s Play with Objects publication-title: J Psychol doi: 10.1080/00223980.1981.9915282 – year: 2007 ident: 1 article-title: The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds publication-title: Pediatrics doi: 10.1542/peds.2006-2697 – year: 2015 ident: 11 article-title: Affordances for Risk-Taking and Physical Activity in Australian Early Childhood Education Settings publication-title: Early Child Educ J doi: 10.1007/s10643-014-0667-0 – year: 1983 ident: 19 article-title: The Effects of the Structure of Play Objects on the Pretend Play of Low-Income Preschool Children publication-title: Child Dev doi: 10.2307/1130049 – year: 2011 ident: 6 article-title: Promoting Fundamental Movement Skill Development and Physical Activity in Early Childhood Settings: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial publication-title: Pediatr Exerc Sci doi: 10.1123/pes.23.4.600 – year: 2015 ident: 4 article-title: Position statement on Active Outdoor Play publication-title: Int J Environ Res Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph120606475 |
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| SubjectTerms | active play affordance theory children loose parts outdoor play physical activity physical literacy Review unstructured play |
| Title | Let the Children Play: Scoping Review on the Implementation and Use of Loose Parts for Promoting Physical Activity Participation |
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