Affordances of ditches for preschool children

Ditches have the potential to become an important design element in outdoor playspaces for young children

This study examined the meaningful action possibilities – or affordances – of ditches for preschool-age children. The concept of affordances is based on the idea that living beings are aware of what the environment may offer, and that some features in the environment will be sought and others avoided. Ditches were chosen for analysis, as they represent a modest and underrated feature for children’s play and learning activities.

This study was conducted in a forest preschool near a small Danish town. The 21 participating children, aged 3-6.5 years, were accustomed to spending two to five hours in the forest every day. The first author of this study observed the children in the forest several times in different seasons of the year. She used field notes and video recordings to collect data about the children’s activities and the features they used. She also took measurements of the ditches, including the depth, width, and steepest side angle. In analyzing the data, the researcher reviewed her notes and recordings several times, looking for patterns in the children’s activities and in the features of the ditches they used.

The ditches proved to be an attractive feature for both boys and girls in the group. Ditches with different characteristics invited (or afforded) different play activities. Dry ditches and ditches with water invited the most varied activities. Dry ditches, for example, invited gliding down and clambering up the sides, hiding, rolling objects down the sides, exploring vegetation, and excavating. Ditches with water invited splashing, floating objects, making mud, exploring water life, catching and releasing small creatures, gliding on and crushing ice, and dam building. Children seemed stimulated and excited about the challenges and affordances of the ditches. They demonstrated increased confidence and competence over time in their movements and manipulations in and around the ditches.

These findings suggest that planners and managers of green spaces and playgrounds would do well to incorporate ditches into spaces for young children, as ditches offer rich opportunities for varied and exciting activities. The authors offer several specific recommendations on how ditches can be incorporated into children’s playspaces in safe and manageable ways.