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Outdoor play is vital for children’s physical, mental, and social well-being.
However, urbanization and the growing use of digital devices have significantly reduced opportunities for outdoor activities in recent years.
To combat this issue, researcher Avin Khalilollahi has dedicated her PhD work to exploring how technology—such as interactive playgrounds and location-based games—can inspire outdoor play by combining digital experiences with physical activity.
This brief summarizes key findings from three of Khalilollahi’s articles, providing actionable insights for city planners, playground designers, policymakers, and researchers in human-computer interaction.
More specifically, it illustrates how digital tools can support outdoor play among children aged 4 to 12.
The first study applied the COM-B model* to analyze factors influencing outdoor play in children aged 4-12 and the role of digital interventions.
Digital interventions were found to support children’s outdoor play through functions such as training, enablement, persuasion, modeling, environmental restructuring, and incentivization.
*The COM-B Model of Behavior Change is a theoretical framework that suggests that behavior is shaped by the interplay between Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation.
The second study combined design principles with the COM-B model* to analyze the intentions and strategies of designers of digital play systems such as interactive installations and geo-location-based games.
This led to a structured framework of how design principles support behavior change.
*The COM-B Model of Behavior Change is a theoretical framework that suggests that behavior is shaped by the interplay between Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation.
The third study investigated how children aged 6-12 interacted with three interactive playgrounds at a primary school in Enschede, Netherlands.
It examined their experiences and the impact of these digital play environments on outdoor play behavior.
The three articles explore digitally-enhanced outdoor play from the perspectives of academics, designers, and children:
Khalilollahi and colleagues explored key attributes of digitally- enhanced play areas for children, identifying several shared features that are essential for successful digital play.
These include rewards, sensory- rich environments, physical and mental engagement, and social interaction, which were emphasized as crucial elements by academics, designers, and children alike (figure 1).
However, while designers and academics excel at creating structured play environments, they often overlook critical aspects that children value.
This is typically the need for adventurous play, flexible rules, emotional attachment to space, gender sensitivity, and natural elements.
This finding underscores the importance of adopting a more child-centered approach when designing digitally enhanced play areas.
To integrate these insights, Khalilollahi and colleagues applied the COM-B model to organize and categorize the features and actions influencing outdoor play.
The researchers grouped the attributes into “intervention functions” to show how each function supports children’s outdoor play behavior.
This resulting framework, which can be seen in figure 2, offers a structured approach to understanding how different strategies work together to enhance children’s ability to engage in outdoor play, providing a solid foundation for creating effective digital interventions.
For example, supporting children in developing the necessary skills for outdoor play–the “enablement” function in the framework–can be achieved by offering clear instructions and involving parents in guiding game comprehension.
All our briefs are accessible through our website, www.playgroundresearch.org.
On the website, you’ll find a compilation of briefs that offer a clear comprehension of research findings and their implications for future research and practical application.
You can also download a printable PDF version of this brief to facilitate sharing.
Study 1 (Academic Perspective):
Study 2 (Designer Perspective):
Study 3 (Children’s Perspective):
