Sand Play for 0–8-Year-Old Children’s Health and Development: A Systematic Review Protocol

Susanna Iivonen,Anne Soini,Titta Kettukangas,Helena Viholainen

doi:10.3390/ijerph181910112

Abstract

Sand play may be a significant determinant of health and development in early childhood, but systematically synthesised evidence is absent in the literature. The main objective of this study was to present a planned methodology to systematically review, and synthesise, the evidence regarding sand play and its associations with 0–8-year-old children’s health and development. The systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols statement was registered to PROSPERO (CRD42021253852). Literature searches will be conducted using information from eight electronic databases. Studies will be included when participating children were aged 0–8 years, settings provided children with exposure to sand environments and/or materials, and child-level outcomes related to physical, cognitive, and/or social–emotional health and development. The search results will be imported to software; duplicates will be removed; and independent double screening, and study quality assessments using appropriate tools, will be conducted. Synthesis without meta-analysis will be conducted for quantitative studies similar in exposure, outcome, and content analysis to qualitative studies. Our overall confidence in each review finding will be assessed. The findings of this systematic review can inform policy makers and early childhood education teachers about the associations between sand play and children’s health and development, and its impact in practice.

Highlights

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines for young children [1] state that children should have opportunities to participate in a range of developmentally appropriate, safe, and enjoyable play-based physical activities
Several methodological tools have been developed for assessing the quality of studies included in systematic reviews for medical research, making them not directly applicable to the evaluation of behavioural sciences [31]
If the type and number of data allow coding rules that allow the findings reported in the eligible studies to be categorised according to the child’s development domains and/or particular aspect of a development domain, further categories will be developed

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines for young children [1] state that children should have opportunities to participate in a range of developmentally appropriate, safe, and enjoyable play-based physical activities. The guidelines suggest that children should be physically active for at least 180 min at any intensity throughout the day. Its global prevalence is high, and the sandpit is the most common fixed environment for early childhood education ECE [2]. Regardless of geographical, linguistic, or cultural context, one finds sandpits and sandy environments in populated areas wherever one travels, including in home yards, playgrounds, and other leisure spaces for children, families, and groups. Children themselves consider sand play a pleasant activity as it involves manipulation, exploration, and construction with materials to create imaginary worlds [3,4,5]

Objectives

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion