The Policies and Practice of Preschoolers' Outdoor Play: A Chinese Perspective on Greeting the Millennium

Abstract

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) scholars and health professionals worldwide share a common concern about the decline in children's physical development and activity due to lack of access to good quality outdoor environments. Early childhood education and care facilities across the world have been affected by trends that are limiting outdoor play, including large-scale migration of rural populations to industrial urban areas where access to the outdoors is limited. In China, this migration and other factors have resulted in dramatic changes to the nation's sociocultural fabric. The authors discuss policies and practices regarding outdoor play designed for millennial preschoolers in China. It presents a Chinese perspective on preschoolers' (3- to 6-year-olds) outdoor play and physical activity and provides recommendations to enhance a worldwide view of child development in the new millennium.