The infographic in this post summarises an extract from my dissertation. The following studies were used as source material for my collated list of girls’ and boys’ play preferences.
- Babb, C., Olaru, D., Curtis, C., & Robertson, D. (2017) Children’s active travel, local activity spaces and wellbeing: A case study in Perth, WA.
- Bourke, T. & Sargisson, R. (2014) A Behavioral Investigation of Preference in a Newly Designed New Zealand Playground
- Boyatzis, C., Mallis, M., & Leon, I. (1999) Effects of Game Type on Children’s Gender-Based Peer Preferences: A Naturalistic Observational Study
- Braun-Fahrländer, C. (2010) Built environment, parents’ perception, and children’s vigorous play
- Brockman, R., Fox, K., & Jago, R. (2011) What is the meaning and nature of active play for today’s children in the UK?
- Brown, B., Mackett, R., Gong, Y., Kitazawa, K., & Paskins, J. (2008) Gender differences in children’s pathways to independent mobility
- Charlesworth, W. & Dzur, C. (1987) Gender Comparisons of Preschoolers’ Behavior and Resource Utilization in Group Problem Solving
- Fabes, R., Shepard, S. ,Guthrie, I., & Martin, C. (1997) Roles of Temperamental Arousal and Gender-Segregated Play in Young Children’s Social Adjustment
- Faulkner, G., Mitra, R., Buliung, R., Fusco, C., & Stone, M. (2015) Children’s outdoor playtime, physical activity, and parental perceptions of the neighbourhood environment
- Hendricks, B. (2001) Designing for play
- Holmes, R. (2012) The Outdoor Recess Activities of Children at an Urban School: Longitudinal and Intraperiod Patterns
- Lever, J. (1976) Sex Differences in the Games Children Play
- Maccoby, E. (1999) The Two Sexes
- Neppl, T. & Murray, A. (1997) Social Dominance and Play Patterns Among Preschoolers: Gender Comparisons
- O’Connor, D., McCormack, M., Robinson, C., & O’Rourke, V. (2017) Boys and girls come out to play: Gender differences in children’s play patterns
- Pfister, G. (1993) Appropriation of the Environment, Motor Experiences and Sporting Activities of Girls and Women
- Riley, J. & Jones, R. (2007) When Girls and Boys Play: What Research Tells Us
- Scarlett, W., Naudeau, S., Salonius-Pasternak, D., & Ponte, I. (2005) Children’s Play
- Singer, D., Singer, J., D’Agnostino, H., & Delong, R. (2009) Children’s Pastimes and Play in Sixteen Nations: Is Free-Play Declining?
- Bringolf-Isler, B., Grize, L., Mäder, U., Ruch, N., Sennhauser, F., & Braun-Fahrländer, C. (2010) Built environment, parents’ perception, and children’s vigorous play
Research that discuss the social penalties associated with non-gender stereotypical play include Fabes et al.‘s 1997 study, and also Clark and Paechter’s 2007 study ‘Why can’t girls play football?’ Gender dynamics and the playground. Holmes’s 2012 study discusses how children frequently follow the conventions of gendered play. Boyle, Marshall, and Robeson’s 2003 study Gender at Play: Fourth-Grade Girls and Boys on the Playground also touches on this in their discussion of play as part of a social construction of what it means to be a boy or a girl.
The Play Equity Project 
Interesting research – out of interest did you notice any difference between the older studies and the newer ones? I notice some of your references are quite old?
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That’s such a good question! I wrote my dissertation in the second half of last year, so I’d probably have to revisit the various studies I referenced to confirm 100%, but from memory I certainly don’t remember any noticeable variation in the older and more
recent studies. But I’ll be looking at this all again as I start my next piece of work, so I will see if I can spot anything!
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