A Behavioral Investigation of Preference in a Newly Designed New Zealand Playground

Oct 15, 2026

A behavioral study examines children’s play preferences in a newly built playground in New Zealand using natural observation. Across 615 minutes in five-minute intervals, researchers observed children of different ages and genders as they used playground equipment. Swinging, spinning, and climbing were identified as the most popular activities, despite involving speeds and heights considered risky. The findings are discussed for implications in playground design and for concerns about reduced outdoor play time.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Outdoor play benefits and social interaction

Background: preferences and consulting children

Risk, hazards, and risk-taking play

How experience supports risk assessment

Study focus

Preference patterns in a newly built New Zealand playground

A Behavioral Investigation of Preference in a Newly Designed New Zealand Playground s Tina M. Bourke Rebecca J. Sargisson Playgrounds with spaces that attract children increase the likelihood children will use them, the authors note, and playgrounds offer an opportunity for children to experience the risks of outdoor play. The authors used natural observation to study the children at play in a newly built New Zealand playground where such an important kind of behavioral learning was possible. In ﬁve-minute intervals over 615 minutes, they observed children of various ages and genders using the playground equipment. They discovered that swinging, spinning, and climbing—all at speeds and heights that made them risky—were the most popular activities overall for children. They discuss the important implications of these and their other ﬁndings for playground designers and for those worried about the decreasing time children spend playing outdoors. Key words: children, children’s play preferences; playgrounds, safe play, risky play Outdoor play offers children unique physical, psychological, and social development opportunities (Clements 2004; Little and Eager 2010). The special equipment and open space available on outdoor playgrounds permit active play (Stephenson 2002; Trawick-Smith 2010), which has beneﬁts for children’s health and well-being. Children who attend schools with larger outdoor areas have lower body-mass indexes than those whose outdoor areas are smaller (Ozdemirand Yilmaz 2008) . Being physically active outdoors increases oxygen intake, which aids the growth of muscles and neuromuscular coordination and assists sleep and relaxation (Adesina 2012) . Additionally, outdoor play fosters more interaction with peers than indoor play (Trawick-Smith 2010) . Playgrounds provide a meeting space open to all children. It is easier for children to join groups outdoors, which makes the groups in general bigger and more ﬂuid (Stephenson 2002) . Outdoor areas present 370 American Journal of Play, volume 6, number 3 © The Strong Contact Tina Bourke at [tinab@waikato.ac.nz](tinab@waikato.ac.nz) opportunities for greater variability, unpredictability, and open-endedness in children’s play, giving them a sense of freedom (Stephenson 2002). Opportunities to “swing, climb, slide, run . . . provide a satisfying range of physical challenges”(Stephenson 2003, 40). Once learned, many of the beneﬁts of outdoor play, such as physical risk taking and learning to accept challenges, generalize to indoor settings (Little and Wyver 2008) . Children’s participation in safe outdoor play proves particularly important in urbanized areas (Clements 2004; Little and Eager 2010) . Mothers from sixteen different countries reported that, although their children spent most of their free time watching television, they were happiest when playing outside at playgrounds or parks (Singer et al. 2009) . To design playgrounds that attract children, we must determine the kinds of play children prefer, yet rarely do we consult them (Thomson 2007), despite the fact that we know children have different views about the spaces they inhabit than do adults (Matthews 1998). In our study, therefore, we investigate whether the play provided by a newly built playground in a small town in North Island, New Zealand, attracted the children for whom it was built. One aspect of public playgrounds that may attract children is the potential for risk. Risk occurs when individuals make choices about behaviors with uncertain outcomes (Little and Eager 2010), such as engaging in play that may result in injury (Stephenson, 2003). In fact, Sandseter (2009) deﬁnes risky play for children as “thrilling and exciting forms of play that involve a risk of physical injury”(3). Others distinguish risk from hazard, a situation involving a source of harm that has a high probability of causing serious injury or death (Little and Eager 2010; Stephenson 2003). A playground ma

FAQs

What research method was used to study children at the playground?

Natural observation was used to observe children while they played in a newly built playground.

Which playground activities were most popular overall?

Swinging, spinning, and climbing were the most popular activities overall, even though they involved risky speeds and heights.

How do the authors distinguish risk from hazards in children’s play?

Risk involves choices with uncertain outcomes, while hazards involve sources of harm with a high probability of serious injury that children struggle to avoid.

Oct 15, 2026

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