Parents’ actions as either as promoters or as restrictors of affordances depend upon their own perception of the environment in which they identify the affordances that are possible for children to access or not. From this theoretical standpoint, the present study aimed to describe parents’ perception of nature as a place that offers affordances that children may access. In a public park in Florianópolis (Brazil), 105 parents were interviewed face-to-face, guided by open- and closed-ended questions about 26 affordances. The closed-ended questions corresponded to affordances perceived as possible and not possible for children to access in nature. The open-ended questions were about the places in nature where it would be possible for children to access the affordances. The results showed that parents evoked resources as trees, grass and sand, and places such as a lagoon, in a variety of affordances that can be accessed by children. Such results corroborate other studies that have identified the use of nature in children’s play.
ArtsM.-J.de VriesS. I.van OersH. A. M.SchuitA. J. (2012). Outdoor play among children in relation to neighborhood characteristics: A cross sectional neighborhood observation study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 9(98), 3–11. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ijbnpa.org/content/9/1/98
3.
AzisN. F.SaidI. (2011). The trends and influential factors of children´s use of outdoor environments: A review. Asian Journal of Environment-Behavior Studies, 2(5), 67–80. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.03.341
4.
AzlinaW.ZulkifleeA. S. (2012). A pilot study: The impact of outdoor play spaces on Kindergarten children. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 38, 275–283. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.03.349
5.
BardinL. (1984). Análise de conteúdo. Lisboa: Edições 70.
CastonguayG.JutrasS. (2009). Children’s appreciation of outdoor places in a poor neighborhood. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29, 101–109. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.05.002
8.
Czalczynska_PodolskaM. (2014). The impact of playground spatial features on children´s play and activity forms: An evaluation of contemporary playground´s play and social value. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 38, 132–142. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.01.006
FjortoftI. (2001). The Natural Environment as a Playground for Children: The Impact of Outdoor Play Activities in Pre-Primary School Children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 29, 111–117. doi 10.1023/A:1012576913074
11.
FjortoftI. (2004). Landscape as playscape: The effects of natural environments on children’s play and motor development. Children, Youth and Environments, 14(2), 21–44. doi:10.7721/chilyoutenvi.14.2.0021
12.
FjortoftI.KristoffersenB.SageieJ. (2009). Children in schoolyards: Tracking movement patterns and physical activity in schoolyards using global positioning system and heart rate monitoring. Landscape and Urban Planning, 93, 210–217. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2009.07.008
13.
FjortoftI.SageieJ. (2000). The natural environment as a playground for children landscape description and analyses of a natural landscape. Landscape and Urban Planning, 48, 83–97. doi:10.1016/S0169-2046(00)00045-1
14.
GibsonJ. J. (1986). The ecological approach to visual perception. Hillsdale, MI: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
KernanM. (2010). Outdoor affordances in early childhood education and care settings: Adult’s and children’s perspectives. Children, Youth and Environments, 20(1), 152–177. Retrieved fromhttp://www.jstor.org/discover/10.7721/chilyoutenvi.20.1.0152
19.
KorpelaK.KÿttaM.HartigT. (2002). Restorative experience, self-regulation, and children’s place preferences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22, 387–398. doi:10.1006/jevp.2002.0277
KÿttaM. (2002). Affordances of children’s environments in the context of cities, small towns, suburbs and rural villages in Finland and Belarus. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22, 109–123. doi:10.1006/jevp.2001.0249
23.
KÿttaM. (2004). The extent of children’s independent mobility and the number of actualized affordances as criteria for child-friendly environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24, 179–198. doi:10.1016/S0272-4944(03)00073-2
24.
LittleH. (2010). Relationship between parents’ beliefs and their responses to children’s risk-taking behavior during outdoor play. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 8, 315–330. doi:10.1177/1476718X10368587
MachadoY. S.PeresP. M. S.AlbuquerqueD. S.KuhnenA. (2016). Nature and children´s play; Investigation of child-nature interaction in urban green parks. Trends in Psychology, 24, 669–680. doi:10.9788/TP2016.2-14
MinB.LeeJ. (2006). Children’s neighborhood place as psychological and behavior domain. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 26, 51–71. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2006.04.003
30.
OzdemirA.YilmazO. (2008). Assessment of outdoor school environments and physical activity in Ankara’s primary schools. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28, 287–300. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2008.02.004
31.
RasmussenK. (2004). Places for children-children’s places. Childhood, 11, 155–173. doi:10.1177/0907568204043053
ReedE. S. (1993). The intention to use a specific affordance: A conceptual framework for psychology. In WozniakR. H.FischerK. W. (Eds.), Development in context: Acting and thinking in specific environments (pp. 45–76). Hillsdale, MI: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
34.
RefshaugeA. D.StigsdotterU. K.PetersenL. S. (2013). Play and behavior characteristics in relation to the design of four Danish public playgrounds. Children, Youth and Environments, 23(2), 22–48. doi:10.7721/chilyoutenvi.23.2.0022
35.
SaidI. (2012). Affordances of nearby forest and orchard on children´s performances. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 38, 195–203. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.03.340
SandseterE. B. H. (2009). Affordances for risky play in Preschool: The importance of features in the play environment. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36, 439–446. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0307-2
SchafferS. D.KistemannT. (2012). German forest kindergartens: Healthy childcare under the leafy canopy. Children, Youth and Environments, 22(1), 270–279. doi:10.7721/chilyoutenvi.22.1.0270
40.
StineS. (1996). Landscapes for children: Creating outdoor environments for children and youth. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
41.
StorliR.HagenT. L. (2010). Affordances in outdoor environments and children´s play physically active play in pre-school. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 18, 445–456. doi:10.1080/1350293X.2010.525923
42.
TaylorA. F.KuoF. E.SullivanW. C. (2002). Views of nature and self-discipline: Evidence from inner city children. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22, 49–63. doi:10.1006/jevp.2001.0241
43.
TuanY.-F. (1978). Children and the natural environment. In AltmanI.WholwillJ. F. (Eds.), Human behavior and environment: Advances in theory and research (Vol. 3, pp. 5–32). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
44.
VeitchJ.BagleyS.BallK.SalmonJ. (2006). Where do children usually play? A qualitative study of parent’s perceptions of influences on children’s active free-play. Health & Place, 12, 383–393. doi:10.1016/j.healthplace.2005.02.009
45.
WellsN. M. (2000). At home with nature: Effects of “greenness” on children cognitive functioning. Environment and Behavior, 32, 775–795. doi:10.1177/00139160021972793
