The Attractiveness of Street Children Playgrounds. An Empirical Study

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Abstract

We present author’s method of estimating the attractiveness of urban street children playgrounds using activity observation of 997 visitors (both children and adults), which was held on the 16 venues of Moscow, in August and September, 2013. We recorded playgrounds attendance during the day, the ways of using objects by children, the behavior of the adults who come with children. We revealed that the objects have unequal attractiveness and stimulate different types of users activity – both following the logic of the object, and “breaking” it. Adults who come with children, supervised children’s activity, entered children’s game or organized it.

General Information

Keywords: children’s environment, playground, play, communication, activities

Journal rubric: Developmental Psychology

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Kotliar I.A., Sokolova M.V. The Attractiveness of Street Children Playgrounds. An Empirical Study. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education, 2014. Vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 54–63. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Inna A. Kotliar, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Research Associate, Dubna State University, Center of Applied Psychological and Pedagogical Studies, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Dubna, Russia, e-mail: iakorepanova@gmail.com

Mariya V. Sokolova, PhD in Psychology, Senior Scientist, Center of Psychology and Educational Expertise of Play and Toys, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: sokolovamw@mail.ru

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