The aim of the study is to investigate preschool teachers thoughts about children and physical activity in the outdoor environment. Children are less physically active than they were in the past, and studies show that the majority of children that attend preschool do not appear in the current recommendation that exists regarding physical activity. Being outdoors has been shown to have a positive impact on children’s physical activity. The size and design of the preschool yard has also been known to have an influence how much children move. The majority of children in Sweden attend preschool where they spend many hours daily, making preschool an important place to promote children’s physical activity and give all children the same opportunities for movement. The purpose of the study is to examine preschool teachers perceptions of the importance of the preschool-yards for childrens’ physical activity. Our research questions are:
In our study we have assumed phenomenography, where the aim is to find the variation in people's different ways of expressing themselves about a particular phenomenon (Marton & Booth 2000). To collect our empirical data we have interviewed seven preschool teachers at four different preschools. The result shows that preschool teachers perceive the preschool yard as a place where children’s opportunities for physical activity increase. All the preschool teachers we questioned, highlighted the fact that the size of the preschool yard and preschool yard with varied terrain and vegetation can have a positive contribution into how much the children can move about and therefore receive more exercise. All preschool teachers perceive that their role in the preschool yard can help in enhancing the chances of creating more and better physical activities for children, but they expressed themselves differently as how their own participation affected. The result also revealed that the preschool yard is most commonly used for spontaneous activities such as children's own games.