Play Environments - Fox Valley Mall

On March 20, I observed children on a play structure for a half hour and on a merry-go-round for fifteen minutes at the Fox Valley Mall in Naperville, Illinois. The structure is about two stories eye, with lots of platforms, surrounded by a net. There were also three smaller plastic structures (two cars and a frog) for younger children. They either played on one of these three things or ran around on the ground. A little girl and a little boy played in a car - the girl pretending to drive to her grandma's house and the little boy having a race with Lightning McQueen, a character from the movie Cars. Boys and girls who were in the structure interacted with one another, even if they did not know each other, but most chose to climb alone. Some of them climbed up to the top and then sat looking around, while others kept moving constantly. One boy told his mom that he was going to climb up the big tree into the clouds, but he was the only one I observed in the equipment engaging in imaginative play. The older children did try to help the younger ones when they chose to try and climb up. One little boy started climbing on the blue railings and a girl tried to correct him, showing him where the entrance was. Another little girl expressed anxiety about climbing in, and a little boy (who did not know her) assured her that "it wasn't bad for her." When the children were climbing, some remained on their feet and others were crawling. Older children would show the little ones around, holding their hand or saying "follow me" or "come this way." The equipment is built in a way that requires very little parent interaction, so the kids could play independently.

The merry-go-round is a two story structure that's in the middle of the food court. It was extremely popular with the children and those whose parents denied them a chance to ride were extremely upset. The kids who were riding laughed and waved to the people in the food court and some were pretending to race, though the animals remain stationary. Some of them moved up and down, and some of the kids counted how many times they moved.