The study of children's preferences between playground elements found in traditional and natural playgrounds

The purpose of this study was to analyze school-aged children's preferences for completing a series of five action words on playground elements found in both traditional and natural playgrounds. A total of 107 researcher-made surveys were completed by children ages 9 to 14 attending either a municipal park program or a public school in Southern California within a 3-month period from October to December, 2013. Results indicated that overall, children preferred natural playground (NP) elements over those found in a traditional playground (TP). Additionally, males preferred to run in a more natural play setting over females. Also, older children (ages 10 and over) significantly preferred to climb and run on NP elements over TP elements. There was also found to be an overall lack of children's exposure to nature and parks. Those children who had more nature exposure preferred jumping and skipping on NP elements rather than TP elements.