Affordances of Children’s

Environments
By: Nor Fadzila Aziz
Perceiving Affordances in Children’s Environments
Hypothetical Environment (Kytta, 2004)

• Social and cultural factors, and rules can regulate which affordances are
perceived, utilized or shaped.
• Outdoor Learning refers to learning modes or experiences that took
place outside of the conventional classrooms, which has the particular
cognitive, interpersonal / social, and physical / behavioral impacts.

• Environmental Learning refers to learning which happens through direct

(observations, sensory stimulation, movement) and indirect (education,
interpersonal communication, popular media) experiences of nature.

• According to Rickinson et al. (2004) there are 3 types of outdoor

learning activities,

• Fieldwork and outdoor visits

• Outdoor adventure educations

• School ground and community projects

• Research on the affordances of Childhood Education Setting (CES)
should focus on the determinants of the environmental variables affording
physical and social activities.

• These determinants caused behavioral change (sense of belonging and

ownership and sense of affiliation) to the children. From Aydin and Oguz
(2008) study, the determinants can include:

- Size of outdoor space

- Separation and partitioning of outdoor spaces
- Games and physical and social plays
- Amenity such as site furniture and play equipment
- Trees and animals
- Aesthetic pleasantness
- Micro-climate factors
 Literature Review
• According to Kernan (2010), children’s opportunities to perceived, utilized
and shaped affordances was influenced by the design of the CES and
the level of independent mobility permitted by the adults to the children.

• Thus, outdoor encompassed 3 interconnected fields of action (Ceppi

and Zini, 1998; Van Liempd, 1999; DeBord et al., 2002)

• Indoor-outdoor connectedness

• Enclosed outdoor space

• Wider outdoor
Indoor-outdoor connectedness Enclosed outdoor space

Wider outdoor
Three interconnected fields of action
 Previous Studies at CES
Theme 1: Green School Ground Initiative
Theme 2: Schoolyard Environment and Physical Activity
Theme 3: Children’s Play and Pleasure
Theme 4: Children’s Learning Environments