Grandparents & Grandchildren's Outdoor Play

While outdoor play benefits children and older persons, it has not been much studied under the context of the grandparent-grandchild relationship.

When children tend to become more sedentary and older persons experience difficulties to stay physically active, intergenerational outdoor play could benefit both generations in term of their health, psychological development and intergenerational closeness. This study was to understand individual experience of intergenerational outdoor play.

14 interviews were conducted with grandparents of preschool aged grandchildren. Grandparents discussed their motivations and challenges to play outdoor with their grandchildren as well as how this specific activity was associated with better feeling of closeness in the relationship. Data analysis is ongoing.

Generously supported by the Fondation DRG

2021-2022

Duflos, Mathilde & Lane, Juliana & Brussoni, Mariana. 2023. Motivations and challenges for grandparent–grandchild outdoor play in early childhood: Perception of Canadian grandparents. Family Relations. 10.1111/fare.12952.

Duflos, Mathilde, Hussaina, Hebah & Brussoni, Mariana. 2023. “When I’m playing with him, everything else in my life sort of falls away”: Exploring grandparents’ and grandchildren’s learning through outdoor play.. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning. 10.1080/14729679.2023.2230503. [link]

— Please visit here for a preprint version of this article above.

BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. 2022, June 1. The importance of grandparents. [link]

Duflos, Mathilde. 2022. Grand-parentalité et nature. Spirale, 2 (102), 42-49. [link]