The Development and Validation of an Outdoor Free Play Scale for Preschool Children
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Characteristics of Outdoor Free Play
1.2. Age and Gender Characteristics of Children’s Outdoor Free Play Activities
1.3. Analyses of Existing Relevant Children’s Play Scales
1.4. Outdoor Free Play in the Chinese Context
2. Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. The Development of OFPS-P
2.3. Item Selection and Scale Structure
3. Results
3.1. Descriptive Statistics
3.2. Item Analysis
3.3. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)
3.4. Confirmatory Factor Analysis
3.5. Gender and Age Characteristics of Children’s Outdoor Free Play Performance
4. Discussion
4.1. The Uniqueness of OFPS-P
4.2. Supporting Children’s Outdoor Free Play with OFPS-P
4.3. Educational Suggestions on Children’s Performance in Outdoor Free Play
4.4. Limitations and Suggestions for Future Studies
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Item | Definition | Level Description | Explanatory Note |
Gross Motor | The complexity of children’s use of large muscles | 1: Play with limb or trunk involvement in a simple way without shifting location, such as knocking, swinging, and/or kicking a subject while remaining still. 2: Translocate at a slow and easy pace, such as crawling and/or wandering. 3: Translocate at a moderate pace with more coordinated body movements, such as smoother walking, hopping, steady climbing, and/or jogging. 4: Translocate at a faster pace, displaying strength in actions and an increased level of balance. Show complex actions, such as skipping, and/or jogging while operating an object. 5: Translocate at a very fast pace, show great control of muscles and balance. Perform complicated actions with great strength such as galloping, somersaulting, and/or speeding while operating an object. | The performance of children who meet level 1 is: standing in place, only moving hands or feet or trunk, such as sitting in place and tapping things with their hands; standing in place and swinging; stand still and kick toys around. It should be noted that children need to stay in place within 6 min of observation and meet the above criteria to be rated as Level 1. |
Manipulation | The flexibility and coordination shown by children when using small muscles. | 1: Use easy and repetitive hand movements, such as hitting, dumping, and squeezing. 2: Use simple hand gestures of matching and comparing objects without further actions. 3: Control hand to conduct basic stable operation of tool and material with coordination of eyes, such as classifying, cutting, inserting small objects. 4: Control hand steadily to operate tool and material, show, increased fine motor control, good coordination of eyes and hands, quick and easy operation of tools, such as pulling and/or yanking an object. 5: Control hand steadily to operate tool and material operation, fulfill complex tasks with coordinated eyes and hands, such as using tools to make things, tying ropes and operating materials, etc. | The performance of children who meet level 2 is: keep the gesture of comparing two play materials, but show no behavior such as classification or splicing that changes the materials. It should be noted that children need to maintain this kind of performance within 6 min of observation to be rated as Level 2. |
Challenge | The level of bravery, self-control, and risk assessment by children, as well as their pursuit and experience of pleasure | 1: Engage in relatively safe play of no difficulty, risk-taking or challenge. No joy of success after completing challenges. 2: Engage in play of danger, for instance, uncontrolled tumbling of the body which is perceivably very dangerous. 3: Engage in play fighting, perceivably relatively dangerous. 4: Engage in play of certain difficulty and danger, within an achievable range. With some signs of nervousness during the process, and expressions of pleasure after completion. 5: Engage in play of relatively high difficulty, with a certain level of danger but still within an achievable range. Definite signs of nervousness during the process, and a high level of excitement after completion. | In Level 1, the standard of “no difficulty, risk-taking or challenge” is that children are not interested in the play and show bored expressions. In Level 2, the standard of “perceptibly very dangerous” is that children are completely unaware of the existence of the danger, rampage and get injured. In Level 3, the standard of “perceptibly relatively dangerous” is that children can control their own behaviors but lose control occationally when playing. |
Attention | The ability of children to suppress interfering factors | 1: When visual or aural stimulations unrelated to play occur, immediately stop the play or perform unrelated behavior. Focus on unrelated stimulations for long periods of time without returning to the play or abandoning it altogether. 2: When visual or aural stimulations unrelated to play occur, stop the play or perform unrelated behavior for a moment, but is able to resume play soon later. 3: When visual or aural stimulations unrelated to play occur, continue the play while looking in the direction of the unrelated stimulants intermittently. 4: When visual or aural stimulations unrelated to play occur, continue the play and only look in the direction of the unrelated stimulants once or twice. 5: When visual or aural stimulants unrelated to play occur, continue the play without regarding the unrelated stimulants at all. | If children pay attention to stimulations unrelated to play within 6 min of observation, they will be rated as Level 1. If children show immediate attention to stimulations unrelated to play, but can return to their own play within the time range, they will be rated as Level 2. |
Problem Solving | The children’s display of determination in attempting to solve problems, overcome obstacles, and variations in strategy. | 1: When faced with difficulties, problems, or manageable risks, give up the play immediately. 2: When faced with difficulties, problems, or manageable risks, immediately request help from teachers or peers. 3: When faced with difficulties, problems, or manageable risks, make an attempt, but immediately request help from teachers or peers if the attempt fails. 4: When faced with difficulties, problems, or manageable risks, make multiple attempts before abandoning and then request help from teachers or peers. 5: When faced with difficulties, problems, or manageable risks, make multiple attempts with variations in strategy, and persevere without giving up. | Children rated as Level 1 may say thing such as “I’m not playing. Forget it”. |
Organization | The children’s ability to arrange and organize personal or group play | 1: Have no goal or plan for personal or group play, stopping play or switching play across area after a short period. 2: Have basic direction for personal or group play, but without a specific goal or plan, i.e., can focus on a certain play area, but without certainty in what to do, with frequent switching of play content within the area. 3: Have basic goals for personal or group play, i.e., can have basic levels of assertion in play content, although may be orderless in action, and may express play goals verbally. 4: Have clear goals and detailed plans for personal or group play, can firmly carry out plans step-by-step, be ordered in action, and can assist leaders in group play with initiative in organizing play. 5: Have new ideas in the process of implementing play plans, which are merged back into and enriching the original plan. Can assume the role of leaders in group play, coordinate different suggestions from within the play, and clarify the respective goals of peers in play. | In Level 1, the standard of “a short period” is 30 s or less. In level 2, the standard of “frequent switching of play content” is to change play content in the same area within 30 s or less. In Level 3, the standard of “orderless in action” is that children’s behaviors may be slow, hesitant and stagnant. |
Motivation | The children’s willingness to participate in play. | 1: Have certain interests and curiosities in the surrounding things and people, but without the manifestation of play. 2: Can keep participating in play, but with shifting interests. 3: Have the willingness to continue play, but without enriching of theme or content of play, and possibly without facial expressions of joy or focus. 4: Have the willingness to continue play, with considerable commitment, constant enrichment of theme or content of play, and possibly with facial expressions of joy or focus. 5: Have strong willingness to play with great commitment, can answer or raise questions related to play. With exciting facial expressions like excitement and positive behavior as laughter, or with positive verbal and body language expressing excitement. | In level 2, children can maintain the state of play, but the theme of play changes. |
Language Expression | The complexity of language used by children in conversation with others. | 1: Have no verbal expressions in play, or express with gestures, or mumbling. 2: Express with a single word or two-word phrases. 3: Express with three-or-four-word phrases or simple sentences, have a back-and-forth conversation with peers or teachers, and possibly raise “what” and “why” type questions and may switch topic in reaction to the needs of listeners. Have the willingness to converse and express with language. 4: Express with phrases or sentences of more than four words, use simple musical language, or two or more simple sentences in succession. Converse two rounds or above in a back-and-forth way with teachers or peers, possibly with multiple questions, playing word games, and express personal thoughts and feelings in front of others with language or gestures. Communicate with peers in organizing play, express roles with language, and perform verbal deduction. 5: Express diverse language with varying sentence structures and relational terms, expand on details of play or reiterate complete sequences of events (including cause, process, and results), or conduct creative narration about the theme of play. Express humor and amusement through language. | In Level 4, the standard of “use simple music language” is that children’s speech has the change of pitch and rhythm. |
Social Participation | The degree of participation of children in group play. | 1: Idle, watch, and/or daze, and observe incidental events of interest or certain group play of children, with occasional questions or suggestions raised, but without participation in play. 2: Play alone, with different play materials from the peers around, and without any communication with them, or participate in play with teachers only. 3: Participate in play similar to peers around, with similar play materials, eye contact with the peers, and possibly brief physical or verbal interactions, but without group play with the peers. 4: Participate in group play with other children, with communication about mutual play activity, but without division and cooperation or mutual goals. 5: Participate in group play with other children with clear division of labor and cooperation, all revolving around the same play goal. | |
Communication Strategies | The ability of children to communicate and resolve conflicts in play using social skills and strategies. | 1: Remain silent and self-focused in play, and have social behaviors of poor adaptability, such as sudden pushing over others, robbing toys from other children, damaging other children’s work, and signs of rejection and avoidance when approached. 2: Communicate in play with basic socially accepted behaviors, although largely passive, such as requesting from peers following guidance of teacher, responding to requests from peers, or one-way attention towards others. 3: Communicate in play well with socially accepted behaviors actively, such as asking for permission before taking others’ possession, or expressing oneself in front of others. 4: Communicate in play with social skills proficiently and have plenty of pro-social behaviors such as taking turns, sharing, and helping others. 5: Communicate in play proficiently with a multitude of communication strategies, effectively solving problems in communication, promoting the development of play, all with a sense of responsibility. | In Level 4, “communicate in play with social skills proficiently” refers to “having more prosocial behaviors”. The standard of “more” is that there are two or more prosocial behaviors in the 6-min observation. |
Symbolization | Children’s symbolic ability in play. | 1: Only exhibit simple mechanical behaviors without explicit situational content or any play pretend with objects or language. For instance, pushing toy cars beeping around on the floor. 2: Display symbolized behaviors with self or objects, supported by real-life objects or close likenesses thereof. For instance, pretending to eat with chopsticks, or letting dolls eat with chopsticks. 3: Display symbolization behaviors of replacing one object with another, engage in social role-play with a certain level of plots. For instance, playing the role of firefighters driving wooden planks (fire engines) to the forest to put out fires. 4: Display symbolization behaviors without the aid of objects, like pretending to drink without a glass. Engage in social role-play, with more than two or complementary roles, for instance play as the doctor with the doll as the patient. Have relative richness and coherency in storytelling. 5: Display symbolization behaviors with double or multiple social role-play characters, for instance, playing the role of the doctor as well as the father, with rich and coherent storytelling, creating imaginary scenarios through language. | In Level 3, the standard of “engage in social role-play with a certain level of plots” is that children will determine story stage and their performance according to their own roles. In Level 4, the standard of “relative richness and coherence in storytelling” is that two or more story stages have been generated, and the plots are logical. |
Creativity | The degree of separation away from imitation and real-life experience, for the content and expression of the children’s play. | 1: Repetitive and rigid play behavior. 2: Simple imitative behavior or straight copying frequent occurrences in life, like imitating others’ sound, action and facial expression. 3: Imitative, real-life based behavior with additional individual thoughts, for instance, imitating horse riding with broomsticks in addition to pretend sweeping, and vending cakes in a bakery. 4: Have individual ideas mainly with less imitation, for instance, building an alien spacecraft alone. 5: Have a relatively high amount of creative play content surpassing reality, or use tools and materials in a multitude of ways. For instance, after building “cakes” with mud and sand, inviting other children to “pay” to stomp the “cakes”. | In Level 3, the standard of “additional individual thoughts” refers to the new functions, backgrounds or meanings that children give to their play on the basis of imitating others or referring to life experiences. In Level 5, the standard of “a relatively high amount of creative play content surpassing reality” is that children use real world materials to create play content that does not conform to the general meaning of reality, which is innovative. |
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Dimensions and Items | Age 3–4 (n = 116) | Age 4–5 (n = 139) | Age 5–6 (n = 126) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
M | SD | M | SD | M | SD | ||
F1: Physical Fitness | Q1 Gross Motor | 1.99 | 0.50 | 2.92 | 0.66 | 3.47 | 0.88 |
Q2 Manipulation | 2.11 | 0.81 | 3.24 | 0.64 | 3.67 | 0.82 | |
Q3 Challenge | 1.47 | 0.69 | 3.10 | 0.68 | 3.58 | 0.71 | |
F2: Approaches to Learning | Q4 Attention | 3.31 | 1.23 | 3.93 | 1.11 | 4.14 | 0.90 |
Q7 Problem Solving | 3.98 | 1.49 | 4.33 | 1.11 | 4.72 | 0.78 | |
Q8 Organization | 3.16 | 0.82 | 3.38 | 0.89 | 3.62 | 0.66 | |
Q9 Motivation | 3.90 | 0.74 | 4.12 | 0.66 | 4.29 | 0.52 | |
F3: Socialization | Q10 Language Expression | 2.84 | 1.03 | 3.32 | 0.78 | 3.53 | 0.75 |
Q11 Social Participation | 3.41 | 0.78 | 3.70 | 0.57 | 3.76 | 0.46 | |
Q12 Communication Strategies | 2.99 | 1.12 | 3.60 | 0.76 | 3.67 | 0.70 | |
F4: Imagination | Q5 Symbolization | 1.91 | 0.94 | 1.90 | 0.98 | 2.34 | 1.17 |
Q6 Creativity | 1.92 | 0.94 | 1.96 | 1.05 | 2.52 | 1.33 |
Dimensions and Items | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
F1: Physical Fitness | Q1 Gross Motor | 0.774 | |||
Q2 Manipulation | 0.791 | ||||
Q3 Challenge | 0.866 | ||||
F2: Approaches to Learning | Q4 Attention | 0.619 | |||
Q7 Problem Solving | 0.744 | ||||
Q8 Organization | 0.826 | ||||
Q9 Motivation | 0.718 | ||||
F3: Socialization | Q10 Language Expression | 0.846 | |||
Q11 Social Participation | 0.660 | ||||
Q12 Communication Strategies | 0.878 | ||||
F4: Imagination | Q5 Symbolization | 0.937 | |||
Q6 Creativity | 0.951 | ||||
Eigenvalues | 1.499 | 3.784 | 1.962 | 1.409 | |
% of the variance explained | 17.074 | 19.541 | 18.980 | 16.527 |
Model | χ2 | df | χ2/df | RMSEA | CFI | TLI | SRMR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Four-factor model | 90.246 | 48 | 1.880 | 0.060 | 0.979 | 0.971 | 0.035 |
Dim. | Factor Loading | Item Reliability | Composite Reliability | Convergence Validity | Discriminative Validity | α | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R-Square | CR | AVE | F1 | F2 | F3 | F4 | |||
F1 Physical Fitness | 0.821–0.923 | 0.674–0.853 | 0.914 | 0.779 | 0.883 | 0.852 | |||
F2 Approaches to Learning | 0.640–0.868 | 0.409–0.753 | 0.869 | 0.628 | 0.388 | 0.792 | 0.803 | ||
F3 Socialization | 0.909–0.954 | 0.543–0.742 | 0.929 | 0.868 | 0.231 | 0.592 | 0.932 | 0.821 | |
F4 Imagination | 0.737–0.861 | 0.827–0.910 | 0.859 | 0.672 | 0.484 | 0.723 | 0.583 | 0.820 | 0.938 |
Dimensions | Gender (M ± SD) | t | p | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Girl (n = 122) | Boy (n = 119) | |||
Physical Fitness | 8.29 ± 2.956 | 9.17 ± 2.757 | −2.394 | 0.017 * |
Approaches to Learning | 15.43 ± 3.421 | 15.67 ± 3.203 | −0.557 | 0.578 |
Socialization | 10.63 ± 2.141 | 9.99 ± 2.129 | 2.325 | 0.021 * |
Imagination | 4.57 ± 2.189 | 4.22 ± 2.192 | 1.276 | 0.203 |
Overall | 38.93 ± 8.12 | 39.05 ± 7.964 | −0.12 | 0.905 |
3–4 Years | 4–5 Years | 5–6 Years | F | Post Hoc Test | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Physical Fitness | M | 4.93 | 9.44 | 11.58 | 967.487 ** | K1 < K2 < K3 |
SD | 0.574 | 0.889 | 1.277 | |||
Approaches to Learning | M | 13.89 | 15.79 | 16.89 | 18.526 ** | K1 < K2 < K3 |
SD | 3.769 | 3.276 | 1.955 | |||
Socialization | M | 9.01 | 10.66 | 11.19 | 25.987 ** | K1 < K2, K1 < K3 |
SD | 2.646 | 1.569 | 1.520 | |||
Imagination | M | 3.88 | 4.00 | 5.33 | 11.928 ** | K1 < K3, K2 < K3 |
SD | 1.953 | 1.928 | 2.319 | |||
Overall | M | 31.72 | 39.9 | 44.99 | 96.512 ** | K1 < K2 < K3 |
SD | 7.411 | 5.634 | 4.697 |
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Share and Cite
Li, S.; Jiang, Q.; Deng, C. The Development and Validation of an Outdoor Free Play Scale for Preschool Children. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 350. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010350
Li S, Jiang Q, Deng C. The Development and Validation of an Outdoor Free Play Scale for Preschool Children. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(1):350. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010350
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi, Sixian, Qianyi Jiang, and Chenyu Deng. 2023. "The Development and Validation of an Outdoor Free Play Scale for Preschool Children" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 1: 350. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010350