Tracking possible differences between female- and male staff in promoting physical activity towards girls and boys in the outdoor playground of the kindergarten

ABSTRACT

Research demonstrates that physical activity is essential for a child’s well-being, learning and motor development. The purpose of this article is to qualitatively explore how female and male kindergarten staff promote physical activity towards boys and girls in the outdoor playground of a Norwegian kindergarten consisting of fifty children (twenty-eight girls and twenty-two boys) and ten adults (two males and eight females). Observations were used as method. The findings demonstrate that male staff were more spontaneous and physical with the children and promoting more Rough and Tumble play, the latter often attracting more boys. Female staff tended to promote more games with rules and practice play, in addition to bringing the indoor activity out to the playground, the latter often more appealing to girls. However, female staff working in the same unit as male staff seemed to be more physically active compared to the unit constituting only female staff.

KEYWORDS:

• Physical activity
• gender differences
• kindergarten staff
• outdoor playground
• ECE

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).