Fast Fact Library

A cost-benefit analysis based on existing green schoolyards in California compared a green schoolyard prototype with a gray schoolyard prototype. Over a 20-year period, the green schoolyard's cumulative net cost was...

Trust for Public Land and MKThink. (2022). “California Green Schoolyards: A Cost-Benefit Study.” https://www.tpl.org/sites/default/files/220511_TPL_GSY_Report_Final.pdf.

A study of data provided by 575 Australian mothers with a child between the ages of 2 and 5 indicated that outdoor play time was positively associated with cooperative and easy-going social skills along with...

Hinkley T, Brown H, Carson V, Teychenne M (2018) Cross sectional associations of screen time and outdoor play with social skills in preschool children. PLoS ONE 13(4): e0193700. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193700

Environments supportive of risky (challenging and exciting) outdoor play promoted increased play time, physical activity, social interactions, creativity, and resilience among children. The overall positive health...

Brussoni, Mariana, Rebecca Gibbons, Casey Gray, Takuro Ishikawa, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Adam Bienenstock, Guylaine Chabot et al. (2015). What is the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in children? A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(6), 6423-6454.

Urban middle school students in Canada were more physically active when their neighborhoods contained undeveloped natural areas with trees but not meadows. For every 5% increase in tree-covered land, there was a...

Janssen, Ian, and Andrei Rosu. (2015). Undeveloped green space and free-time physical activity in 11 to 13-year-old children. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12(1), 26.

Children who play surrounded by elements like logs and flowers show increased levels of physical activity, according to a University of Tennessee study that looked at behavior before and after a traditional...

Coe, D. P., J. I. Flynn, D. L. Wolff, S. N. Scott, and S. Durham. (2014). Children’s Physical Activity Levels and Utilization of a Traditional versus Natural Playground. Children Youth and Environments, 24(3), 1-15.

More at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121011135036.htm

A study of 8 British schools revealed that moderate to vigorous physical activity levels were 32% higher for children on playgrounds with brightly colored markings as compared to activity levels of children on...

Stratton, Gareth, and Elaine Mullan. “The Effect of Multicolor Playground Markings on Children’s Physical Activity Level during Recess.” Preventive Medicine 41, no. 5-6 (2005): 828-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2005.07.009.

A study in Berlin in 2000 found that proximity to playgrounds in residential areas raised land values by up to 16%. The same study found a high number of street trees to raise values by 17%.

Luther, Mike, and Dietwald Gruehn. (2001). Putting a price on urban green spaces. Landscape Design: Journal of the Landscape Institute, 303, 23-26.

Children with access to unsupervised outdoor play opportunities have more developed motor skills, social behavior, independence, and conflict resolution skills than children without access to these opportunities.

 Marco Hüttenmoser. (1995). Children and their living surroundings: Empirical investigation into the significance of living surroundings for the everyday life and development of children. Children’s Environments, 12, 403–413.