Ground to Stand on

Some Notes on Kids' Dirt Play

Abstract

The background quality of the geomorphic landscape little encourages it as a subject for children's attention. Geomorphic features appeared in fewer than 8% of a large sample of children's drawings; geomorphic features were referred to less than 11% of the time in 500 hours of sandbox play. Because of this (relatively) transparent quality, earth takes on a great variety of roles in sandbox play, playing food more often than anything else (vanilla, salt, vinegar, cake, and meatballs, for example). Dirt play is dominated by young children who distinguish three forms of earth: sand, dirt, and mud. Older kids find little room for things-of-action in the sandbox, and the earth's surface is an even less compelling subject for them than it is for younger children.