Developing creativity through outdoor physical activities: a qualitative exploration of contrasting school equipment provisions

Abstract

Creativity is described as an important cognitive process by which ideas are generated, developed and transformed. Despite the importance of creativity for students’ intellectual development, the types of outdoor physical activities students engage in within primary schools according to creativity criteria has yet to be explored. The purpose of the Creative Recess Engagement during Activities Time Exploratory (CREATE) study was to qualitatively capture how physical activities developed by students (n = 279) meet creativity criteria in two primary school with differing playground equipment provisions. Using a momentary time sampling qualitative field note observation procedure, a combined total of 730 scans of the school grounds were undertaken with written accounts and analysed according to creativity criteria. The CREATE study provides exploratory insights into how the development of primary school students’ creativity can be supported or hindered, by the type of equipment provisions made available for students' physical activities within school grounds.