‘There are so many good things outside, let me tell you’: Children’s qualitative perspectives of outdoor play affordances at early learning and child care

Outdoor play in early childhood supports physical, emotional, cognitive and social development. Early learning and child care (ELCC) environments offer important opportunities for outdoor play not otherwise experienced in a home or community setting. This study aims to understand children’s perspectives of outdoor play affordances at two ELCC centres in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada, participating in the PROmoting Early Childhood Outside study ( PROmoting Early Childhood Outside trial registration: NCT05073380) . It also seeks to engage young children in a participatory planning process to examine their own ELCC environment. Twenty children aged 3–5 years participated in observations, semi-structured interviews, child-led tours and map-making. Inductive thematic analysis identified emergent themes, outlining relationships between children’s play behaviours and outdoor affordances. Results from this analysis identified children’s affordances for play through four thematic categories: physical play, social play, imaginative play and nature play. The findings highlight the importance of actualised outdoor affordances that incorporate accessible sensory elements and encompass varied challenges. It also further supports the integration of traditional and natural play features to maximise children’s diverse play experiences. This research substantiates young children as capable research participants and strengthens the application of affordance theory to children’s outdoor play.