Into the park: exploring preschool children’s experience in a local urban park

Abstract

This study seeks to add to our understanding of preschool students’ experiences in urban spaces. Very few studies, including educational research, have directly addressed what urban nature spaces, specifically urban parks, mean to young children and even fewer have focused on children’s own perception. The study presented here was conducted with 17 5-year old preschool students and explored their experiences in their school’s neighbourhood park using a qualitative and interpretative approach. The use of walking interviews allowed for a less intrusive way of collecting data and provided insights into the children’s encounters and activities in the park based on their own words. Thematic analysis showed that children’s experiences in the park crossed three dimensions: a physical, a social and an affective one, which together shaped the child-nature-urban encounters. The study fills a gap in research on young children’s experiences in urban parks and enriches the discussion on environmental education in urban green spaces, including the design of relevant pedagogical approaches.