Active Play
Plays is a fundamental right of all children. The benefits of play include physical activity, learning and problem solving, and social connections.
In particular, our research focuses on “active play.” This includes any play that involves movement (real or imagined). It can be with others or by oneself and occur indoors or outdoors. It can also occur with or without rules, equipment, or goals.
We are interested in quality play experiences for children experiencing disability. Quality experiences are built from 6 building blocks: autonomy, belongingness, challenge, engagement, mastery and meaning. Using the building blocks, we can create more opportunities and higher quality experiences in active play for children with disabilities.
Autonomy
Having independence, choice, control
Belongingness
Feeling included, accepted, respected, part of the group
Challenge
Feeling appropriately tested
Engagement
Being in-the-moment, focused, absorbed, fascinated
Mastery
Feeling a sense of achievement, accomplishment, competence
Meaning
Contributing toward obtaining a personal goal; feeling a sense of responsibility to others
CDPP 2.0 marks the beginning of a comprehensive research program exploring how we can create quality active play experiences. We are focusing our research on the four areas below.
Early Years
Active play in the early years focuses on quality active play participation for children experiencing disability between the ages of 0-4. The research in this area will explore the different places early years play occurs and how it’s supported by caring adults.
Risky Play
Risky play has many benefits for children, but less is known about risky play for children experiencing disability. This research will focus on how families and children experiencing disability define and participate in risky play.
Schools
Schools are important sites for active play. This area of research seeks to identify resources and build capacity in schools and among educators to facilitate quality participation in active play for children experiencing disability.
Community Places and Spaces
This research area aims to identify where active play takes place in our communities for children experiencing disability. The research around community places and spaces will examine how communities can facilitate more opportunities for quality participation in active play for children experiencing disability.
So far, in our research we have found playgrounds are an important space for active play. To foster quality participation at the playground, play leaders and supportive others can support the following building blocks:
Autonomy
Provide opportunities for children to try a variety of playgrounds to find which they are most comfortable with.
Belongingness
Model inclusive language and how to talk to other children, for example, saying ‘move’ instead of ‘walk’ when going toward a playspace.
Challenge
Bring in loose parts play to challenge children by integrating toys into play spaces.
Why is quality participation important?
Participation, whether in sport, exercise, or play, has been connected to improvements in physical and mental health. It can also contribute to overall satisfaction in life.
In fact, we have we learned through our research that participation is about more than being involved in an activity (Evans, 2018). The quality of participation matters. An athlete or exercisers well-being is more strongly linked with the quality of an experience than how often they participate (Martin Ginis et al., 2024). We believe that supporting these feelings may lead to greater and more meaningful participation
Quality participation results from an individual’s quality experiences. Quality experiences involve feelings of autonomy, belongingness, challenge, engagement, mastery, and meaning.
The Strategies
A set of two structures created out of Lego. These structures depict the six building blocks for quality participation, along with some strategies to support these key elements.
On the left-hand side of the image, there is one blue Lego block labelled with the building block Autonomy. Below are two more blue Lego blocks side by side that indicating strategies to promote autonomy, one labelled “control”, one labeled “choices”.
Below these blocks are a set of orange blocks. One orange block is labelled with the building block Belongingness. Next to this block is another orange block labelled with the first strategy, “Awareness & education”. Below is another orange block labelled with the strategy “something for everyone”.
Two more orange blocks are below indicating the strategies “togetherness” and “connections”, and the final two orange blocks are below labelled “teamwork” and “accessible play”.
A last layer of indigo Lego blocks is in a row of three. The block furthest to the left is labelled with the building block “meaning”, and the two strategies listed on the blocks beside it read “goal setting” and “leadership”.
Throughout the image, on the structures sit children engaged in different activities. On this structure, there is a child laying on their stomach watching a tablet with headphones on. Below, on the orange blocks, are two youth passing a basketball, one child is using a wheelchair and the other is standing.
On the right-hand side of the screen are the remaining three building blocks with their accompanying strategies.
The top portion of the structure is a series of green blocks. One block sitting to the left is labelled with the building block “Mastery”. The strategies stacked on top of each other in a series of green blocks read “skill development”, “positive reinforcement” and “safety”.
The green blocks sit on top of a grouping of yellow blocks. The yellow blocks are situated with two blocks to the left. The first block is labelled with the building block title “engagement”. The first strategy is labelled on the block below, which is “exploration”. Three more strategies are connected to the right in blocks stacked vertically. They read from top to bottom: “imaginative play”, “variety” and “levels of play”.
Below the yellow blocks sit a series of four red blocks with the final building block and its related strategies.
On the left, reads the first red block, the building block “challenge”. Directly to the right is the first strategy, “different skill levels”. Below these two blocks sit the other two strategies side by side, labelled on red blocks, reading “problem solving” and “progression”.
On this structure, there is a child sitting at the top holding a ball. Another one climbs a rock wall. Two others are playing under a small archway, one entering the structure using a power wheelchair. Below the Lego block structures is the following statement “use these strategies to build and facilitate quality play for all children.
Visit the full resource library to learn more about CDPP 2.0’s work on Active Play