The Effect of Play in Natural Outdoor and Indoor Space on the Social and Perceptual Development of Preschool Children

The growth of all aspects of the child's existential origins arises. Environmental affordances are considered as a provocative factor to exploit opportunities and promote developmental change. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of play in two space, natural outdoor and indoor space on the social and perceptual development of preschool children. For this purpose, semi-experimental research design with pretest–posttest design and two homogeneous groups was used by convenient method. Statistical sample of research were 30 pre-school children aged 4/5-6/5 that 15 of them at the Natural School (natural outdoor space) and 15 in kindergarten (indoor space) registered. To measure social development, the Vineland Social Maturity Scale and to assess perceptual development, the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration was used. Results of mixed ANOVA showed that activity in outdoor and indoor, had a positive and significant effect on the social and perceptual development of children, but playing in nature had a greater effect on the social and perceptual development of children than indoor space. So that 84% of changes in social age and 88% of changes in their visual-motor Integration were due to outdoor activities. Therefore, the natural environment has a greater improvement in the social and perceptual development of children.