Affordances of outdoor settings for children in preschool: revisiting heft’s functional taxonomy

Inger Elisabeth Lerstrup; Cecil Konijnendijk  van den Bosch

doi:10.1080/01426397.2016.1252039

Affordances of outdoor settings for children in preschool: revisiting heft’s functional taxonomy

Inger Elisabeth Lerstrup, Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch

LUKKET: Landskabsarkitektur og planlægning

16 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Heft’s functional taxonomy for children’s outdoor environment based on the concept of affordances was applied and investigated in a Danish preschool context. Affordances here refer to the meaningful action possibilities of the environment. Two groups of children (3–6 years) enrolled in preschool were observed during times for ‘free play’ in their usual outdoor settings: traditional playground and forest (12 visits, respectively). Modified classes of outdoor features are suggested along with new practical class names: open ground, sloping terrain, shielded places, rigid fixtures, moving fixtures, loose objects, loose material, water, creatures and fire. Each class is specified by distinctive and attractive key activities found by observation. Examining each class indicated that important characteristics apart from availability were variation, sizes and change. The concept of affordances emphasises the ongoing user–environment–activity relationship important for planning with children in mind, but clarification is needed when using the term.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Landscape Research
Vol/bind	42
Udgave nummer	1
Sider (fra-til)	47-62
Antal sider	13
ISSN	0142-6397
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2016.1252039
Status	Udgivet - 2 jan. 2017

Adgang til dokumentet

10.1080/01426397.2016.1252039Licens: Ikke-specificeret

Citationsformater

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author = "Lerstrup, {Inger Elisabeth} and {van den Bosch}, {Cecil Konijnendijk}",

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