Gender Typologies in the Schoolyard (6-9 years old)

Introduction and aim

Boys tend to be more active than girls in the school playground. To create and build school playgrounds that can enhance active play for both boys and girls, it is essential to understand the cultural practices that influence and are influenced by gender-related activities in the schoolyard.

Our study aims to establish gender typologies based on the play of children aged 6 to 9 in the school playground.

Our study

This cross-sectional study will take place in 6-8 Danish school playgrounds. We will use a combination of playground observations and focus groups with 6-9-year-old children to develop these gender typologies.

Timeline

The study runs from 2023-2024.

What we expect

We anticipate discovering various gender typologies characterized by distinct behaviors, needs, and power dynamics. This suggests that diverse intervention strategies may be required in the school playground to increase physical activity levels among different groups of children.