Green playgrounds promote scientific interest and curiosity in children through play.
It is often believed that the classroom space is the only place to learn and teach. And that outdoor spaces are for playing and resting. However, a playground with natural elements allows teachers to develop scientific practices with children. These playgrounds are known as green playgrounds.
As a result, preschools are implementing more of them. Natural elements such as water, sand, soil, or plants allow for informal and spontaneous exploration of science. In addition, a natural playground influences the development and well-being of children.
Despite the benefit of green playgrounds, most children are spending less and less time in nature. In some instances, it is the parents who do not allow children to explore nature; out of fear and the need for adult supervision.
Green playgrounds: The more natural, the better!
Exploratory play in nature encourages attention and generates excitement, challenge, and thrill in children; it also stimulates their cognitive development. It encourages manipulation to obtain information from objects and develops scientific reasoning skills allowing children to discover cause-and-effect relationships or discover probable uses of materials.
Additionally, play and learning converge when children are engaged in a process of discovery. That is their involvement in small challenges or investigations. Teachers can foster this connection through play with curricular experiences. For example, they can give children a series of questions so they can observe, classify, predict, experiment, and express their findings.
For this reason, it is necessary for schools to implement green playgrounds, so that children can develop their scientific skills.
Lastly, the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (International Iberoamerican University) (UNIB), offers the Master in Education with a Specialty in the Organization and Management of Education Centers.
Source: Patios verdes ideales para fomentar la curiosidad científica
