Where do healthy bicyclists grow? Traffic Gardens as safe spaces for cognitive and socio-emotional development
Background: Active transportation is beneficial for the environment, individual health and community well-being. Bicycling provides enhanced mobility, independence, and enjoyment, and bridges generations. Early life influences profoundly impact patterns of behavior: Children who engage in physical activity are more likely to engage as adults. It is imperative that children engage in transportation activities that will enhance their well-being across the lifespan. As a function of age and ability, children are less independent and physically and cognitively more vulnerable. They behave impulsively with difficulty self-regulating, are distracted from tasks, and challenged with spatial discrimination. Many lack reading ability, English proficiency, or warning directives/symbol recognition. Yet, they have greater capacity for curiosity and learning through experience. To insure the health of the broader community, it is essential that the most vulnerable remain safe. The DC Public Schools (DCPS) have developed several physical education programs to promote healthy engagement. All children in DCPS Pre-Kindergarten are introduced to balance bikes. All DCPS 2nd graders (over 15,000 to date), participate in a comprehensive bike education program, ‘Biking in the Park’.

Purpose: Schools are safe places for learning and experience. The purpose of this project was to design (with student/community input) and install two Traffic Gardens (miniature streetscapes) as safe spaces for learning lifelong skills; to create and deliver curriculum related to bicycle safety and rules of the road (i.e., mini-lessons with stories and song); and to assess the impact of play on physical activity, social, emotional and cognitive growth. In efforts to attain the highest level of health for all people, Traffic Gardens were installed and curriculum implemented at two elementary schools in an urban, under-resourced, majority Black jurisdiction.

Methods: Mini-lessons were conducted during class by classroom/physical education teachers. Research entailed collecting complementary data: 1) field notes, 2) semi-structured interviews with school personnel, 3) focus groups with community members, and 4) digital recording (audio/video) of students during their Traffic Garden experiences (planned activity time and recess). All data are in the process of thematic analysis. Additionally, survey data was collected from the community by DC Department of Transportation to determine children’s and parent’s transportation mode choices.

Results. It is anticipated that students will experience increased enjoyment, safety awareness, and knowledge of biking within the built environment. Additionally, students may experience social-emotional growth (e.g., conflict resolution, resilience, problem solving, self-confidence, independence). Anecdotally, engaging students and the community in design of the Traffic Gardens has empowered them as agents of change and has immediately impacted their collective well-being.

Conclusion. This project has the potential to change community perceptions of safety and the built environment. This is critical to whether children spend more time playing, interacting in the environment, and walking or biking to school. Creative and challenging play contributes to children’s cognitive and social-emotional development. There is little research however on bicycling specifically and the efficacy of traffic gardens for youth development. Helping students better utilize their built environment will insure patterns of healthy behavior and overall well-being for all residents.

Presenter: Richard Holt
Agency Affiliation: George Mason University

Presenter Biographical Statement: [biography]