Nature-based Play at the Morton Arboretum's Children's Garden
With partners at Midwestern University in Illinois, we are examining the types and diversity of play interactions in the water-rich outdoor playspaces in the Children's Garden at the Morton Arboretum in Chicago.
2024-2025
What are we trying to do or learn?
While there is a growing body of research examining children's behaviors in nature-based playspaces, few to date have specifically examined the play opportunities and interactions in outdoor playspaces with significant water features such as rivers, streams and ponds. The Morton Arboretum in Chicago has an outdoor play and learning space with a large stream system and a large pond. With our partners we are looking at the types and diversity of play behaviors related to these water features as well as loose parts and program interventions carried out through the Arboretum's outdoor programming.
Where and with whom?
In collaboration with partners in the School of Occupational Therapy at Midwestern University in Illinois, examining play behaviors of child visitors to the Children's Garden Morton Arboretum in Chicago.
Approach & Methods Used
A comprehensive behavior mapping protocol based on the Tool for Observing Play Outdoors (TOPO; Loebach & Cox, 2020) has been carried out over several weeks in the summer of 2024 and 2025. In 2025, a programming intervention to further boost engagement with water features was implemented, and changes in play behaviors related to this intervention are being examined.
Findings & Publications
Forthcoming!