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Abstract
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With the acceleration of globalization in recent years, more and more children are receiving early childhood education abroad. They are expected to adapt to the overseas environment, but the support they receive is far less than in Japan. In recent years, it has been reported that outdoor play in early childhood not only engages the five senses and stimulates the brain and nervous system, but also activates the ability to control emotions (Tomoto, 2017). In Japan, following Sweden, it has been reported that outdoor play is encouraged and that qualities and abilities such as interpersonal relationships, self-esteem, motivation and interest tend to increase in adulthood.[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to develop an outdoor play mental care program (hereafter referred to as the program) incorporating outdoor play that complements stress care psychoeducation, and to examine its feasibility and effectiveness.[Methods] The study was conducted in 2024 with nursery teachers and children in Japanese preschools in Taiwan. As Study 1, a survey of the actual situation of the nursery teachers was conducted, and as Study 2, nursery teachers watched digital contents (10 x 5-min. videos) on stress care and "outdoor play". They did outdoor play for 15 minutes a day for one week with the children. The outdoor play included play using ‘tactile’, ‘somatosensory’ and ‘vestibular’ sensations from the perspective of sensory integration. To determine feasibility, a post evaluation , self-efficacy for teachers and the Child Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-T Teacher Version) was used for the assessment of the children. For each point, time-column data were obtained at pre-intervention (t1), post-intervention (t2) and follow-up (t3).[Results and discussion] The mean SDQ-T score decreased from t1(M=10.55, SD=37.71) to t2 (M=9.43, SD=33.76), suggesting a decreasing trend after the intervention, (t(74) =1.38, p =0.173). In the middle-year class, significant differences were indicated at t1 (M = 11.61, SD = 5.63) and t2 (M = 8.57, SD = 5.34) (t(27) = 2.17, p = 0.0386).This suggests that the program was effective in providing mental care for the preschool children. Data for t3 is currently being analysed. Next, we want to explore the factors behind the differences in effectiveness by age.
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