A comprehensive examination of outdoor play in licensed childcare centres in Alberta, Canada

• Author / Creator

  Predy, Madison

• Background Children engage in more active play when they are outside compared to inside. With a large proportion of children attending childcare outside of the home, childcare centres have been identified as important setting for children’s outdoor play. However, the duration and frequency of outdoor play in Canadian childcare centres are largely unknown. Further, the correlates of outdoor play duration and frequency have not been measured in the childcare settings. Therefore, the overall objective of this thesis was to comprehensively examine outdoor play for toddlers (19-35 months) and preschoolers (36-60 months) in childcare centres across Alberta.
  Methods Participants included 240 childcare centre directors with programs for toddlers and/or preschoolers from Alberta, Canada. Directors completed a questionnaire adapted from the Go Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAP SACC) Outdoor Play and Learning Tool. Outdoor play duration and frequency was measured separately for toddlers and preschoolers and for winter (December-March) and non-winter (April-November) months. Various centre demographic, sociocultural, environmental, and policy correlates were also measured. Centres were categorized as meeting or not meeting the best practices for outdoor play duration and frequency, as defined by the Go NAP SACC tool. Outdoor play duration best practice was defined as 60 minutes/day for toddlers and 90 minutes/day for preschoolers. Outdoor play frequency best practice was defined as ≥3 times/day for both age groups. Chi-squared tests and multiple logistic regressions models were conducted. A frequency cut-off of ≥2 times/day was used in regression models due to frequency distributions.
  Results A higher percentage of centres met the outdoor play duration best practice in the non-winter compared to winter months for toddlers (79.2% vs 24.9%) and preschoolers (55.7% vs 14.6%). More centres also met the frequency best practice in the non-winter months compared to winter months for toddlers (11.4% vs 1.4%) and preschoolers (20.2% vs 3.4%). In the final regression models, having a majority of educators with higher levels of certification was associated with a higher likelihood of meeting best practices in the winter months for toddlers (duration: OR= 2.31, 95% CI: 1.15-4.65 and frequency: OR=2.72, 95% CI: 1.43-5.19) and preschoolers (frequency: OR=2.22, 95% CI: 1.20-4.12). Centres with more frequent educator outdoor play professional development (PD; toddler winter: OR= 1.83, 95% CI: 1.15-2.93) and more family education topics on outdoor play (preschool non-winter: OR=1.83, 95% CI: 1.04-3.22) had a higher likelihood of meeting the frequency best practice. Centres with more outdoor play areas had a higher likelihood of meeting best practices in non-winter months for toddlers (duration: OR=1.56, 95% CI: 1.09-2.25) and preschoolers (duration: OR=1.41, 95% CI: 1.07-1.84) and in winter months for preschoolers (frequency: OR=1.34, 95% CI: 1.01-1.80). Other variables were inconsistent across models.
  Conclusion Findings from this thesis suggest toddlers and preschoolers in childcare centres are not receiving optimal amounts of outdoor play, especially in the winter months. Further, correlates of outdoor play duration and frequency in childcare centres may differ between age groups and seasons. As such, future interventions and initiatives should target outdoor play in the child care setting. Potential areas for intervention could include educator certification and professional development, family education, and number of outdoor play areas.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Childcare Centres
  • Physical Activity
  • Outdoor Play

• Graduation date

  Fall 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-cfa8-m716

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.