I Wanna Play Too: Factors Related to Changes in Social Behavior for Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder After Implementation of a Structured Outdoor Play Curriculum.
A daily 15-minute outdoor Buddy Game lifts social bids for preschoolers with autism and the boost spills into free play.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team ran a 15-minute outdoor game called the Buddy Game.
Kids with and without autism played together in pairs.
Teachers gave simple rules and paired kids each day for four weeks.
The study tracked how often kids talked, shared, or invited others to play.
What they found
After the game, kids with autism made far more social bids.
Their gains were bigger than those of typical peers.
Age mattered less than having autism; younger and older kids with ASD both improved.
The extra social bids carried over into free-play time.
How this fits with other research
Wang et al. (2023) pooled 16 studies and found the same thing: moving the body in play helps kids with autism socialize.
Wan et al. (2023) topped the Buddy Game by adding short teaching drills; they got even larger gains.
Dai et al. (2023) pushed the idea further: they used peer buddies with kids who barely talk and still saw play rise.
Watkins et al. (2019) swapped the outdoor game for indoor play built around a child’s favorite topic and got the same boost, showing the setting is flexible.
Why it matters
You can copy the Buddy Game tomorrow. Pick a short outdoor game, pair kids, and switch buddies daily. Expect bigger social jumps from your students with autism than from typical peers. If you want even stronger gains, add quick teaching drills like Wan et al. (2023) or weave in child interests like Watkins et al. (2019). Either way, fifteen minutes outside can pay off inside.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties interacting with same-aged peers during unstructured play (e.g., on the playground). Thirty-five toddler and preschool children with and without ASD participated in a structured 15-min outdoor play curriculum. The intervention, the Buddy Game, used familiar songs, movement, and games to promote peer social interaction. A 2 × 3 ANOVA assessed changes in overall targeted social behaviors during baseline, the Buddy Game, and generalization to free-pay. Multiple regression analyses examined factors related to increases in social interactions. Predictors were ASD status of child and age of child. Results indicated the Buddy Game increased overall social interactions and that social interactions were influenced more by ASD status than age. Implications for practitioners are highlighted.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2018 · doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3523-z