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A Study on the Impacts of Outdoor Play on Social Development in Chinese Preschool Children

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DOI: 10.25236/ssehr.2018.078

Author(s)

Danqi Shen

Corresponding Author

Danqi Shen

Abstract

Many research studies have indicated that outdoor play is of great importance to young children’s healthy development because the playground serves as children’s social place where they can seek challenges, build self-confidence, release pressure and develop friendships (Wells & Evans, 2003). However, it is difficult to examine Chinese children’s wellbeing in the sense of interpersonal relations, collaboration skills and the self-esteem due to a lack of systematic research on the influence of outdoor education. With the method of literature research, this paper could locate information on this topic, identify the key areas for future study and provide recommendations to narrow the gap between the reality and the distance with developed countries. The author compares the difference of outdoor play to explore the in-depth reasons of the success of outdoor education in these countries through making a comparative analysis of the status quo of outdoor provision in Chinese culture, and in England and Nordic countries. The aim of this paper is to develop a long-term vision and strategy for the development of outdoor curriculum in Chinese context so that young children’s outdoor activities are supported in ways that will enhance their social skills development and learning.

Keywords

Outdoor Play, Social Development, Preschool Children, China