94: Research Review - The Environmental Taxonomy of Outdoor Play Space Features

We're diving back into research after a long break! In this episode, we explore the article titled Theory of Affordances to Understand Environment Play Transactions: Environmental Taxonomy of Outdoor Play Space Features- A Scoping Review by Morgenthaler, Lynch, Loebach, Pentland, and Schultz, published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy in 2024.

This article examines how various outdoor environmental characteristics influence children's outdoor play. The authors developed a taxonomy (a HUGE chart!) that allows practitioners to evaluate the "affordances" of outdoor play spaces...in other words: what do different types of features of the outdoor environment invite children to DO in that environment?

The Environmental Taxonomy of Outdoor Play Space Features categorizes physical environments, their functional qualities, and the play activities they support. This helps us as occupational, physical, and speech therapists, social workers or mental health professionals, to:

🌳 Consider ways we may change the environment to support different types of play in sessions

👀 Discover types of play that may be absent or happening infrequently in our sessions and consider ways to increase the variety of play experiences for children we see in therapy.

✅ Evaluate outdoor play spaces when providing consultation for schools and local governments

Find episode 94 of Therapy in the Great Outdoors wherever you get your podcast fix! And tell me: do you think you'll use this taxonomy in your work?

00:00 Introduction to Nature-Based Pediatric Therapy  

01:00 Research Review Episode Introduction  

02:37 Understanding the Theory of Affordances  

03:49 Developing the Environmental Taxonomy  

09:02 Applications and Implications for Therapy  

22:36 Practical Takeaways and Conclusion  

28:34 Final Thoughts and Call to Action