Abstract
This study will examine the current condition of outdoor play in child care centers and the overall perception of teachers on outdoor play in regards to its related programs and children's reaction to them. Through examining such issues, this study will provide the basic data that can be applied in planning appropriate outdoor play activities, programs and environments. For the study, we surveyed teachers and directors of child care centers using a structured questionnaire. The objects of the survey were 22 child care centers in Daejeon and Seoul, who agreed to conduct the survey. The survey was conducted from August 1 to September 30 2006; 220 copies were distributed, and 188 copies were collected. The results of the study can be summarized as follows: 1) The number of outdoor plays per week were on average 1~2 in most cases, although teachers believed the play should be done everyday. Outdoor play time was mostly 21~30 minutes, while teachers thought 31~40 minutes as appropriate. Children's reaction scored the highest when they played outdoors for 30 minutes every day with their teachers involved in the play. As a result, we have concluded that the appropriate outdoor play should be conducted everyday for 30~40 minutes. 2) Outdoor play was mostly conducted as part of the overall educational plan rather than a separate plan. Since outdoor play affects children's development as much as indoor play, there is a need for development of a specific and separate plan for various outdoor play programs. 3) The outdoor play program that was most often conducted was equipment play and sand play. This indicated the monolithic nature of the outdoor program. Given the fact that children enjoy outdoor plays a lot (M=4.71), various programs including adventure play, sensitive play, and carpenter play should be developed. 4) In outdoor play, the teacher's role included supervising and interacting with children. According to the survey, teachers had a good understanding of the importance on safety and supervising issues in outdoor plays. However they seemed to overlook the importance of having better programs and improving teacher's participation to the play. Despite the importance of outdoor play to children's development, the result shows that teachers have tendencies to limit and obstruct outdoor plays by emphasizing supervising and safety issues instead. 5) Children's safety should not be the only consideration for outdoor plays; teachers ought to better understand that children's development can be maximized by the play. Furthermore, there should be emphasis placed on the program development and teacher's participation; teacher's participation should actively encourage the interactions between a child and a teacher, as well as among children.
