Background
Methods
Participants
Data collection
Data analysis
Results
Exemplar Quote | Source | Characteristics |
---|---|---|
Physical activity as an indicator for health | ||
“You can see from how he plays that he’s fine if he’s not playing you can tell that there’s something wrong or that he’s not feeling okay in his body” | IDI 8 | mother of a 13 month old boy |
“… when they’re overweight, even when they breathe they don’t breathe properly, when they play with other kids they can’t run… because they’re overweight they get blocked [breathing], some get blocked quickly; so a fat child, an overweight child, no they’re not attractive” | IDI 4 | mother of a 6 month old boy |
“…he is too much to handle, but he makes me happy, he keeps me busy; when he’s not around… like even now if he were to arrive I’ll be dealing with a lot, but I miss him” | IDI 6 | mother of a 8 month old boy |
“I think he’s too hyper active, but it’s fine, it’s good. Because he shows me that he’s okay, and I’ll see that there’s something wrong or that he’s sick by him not being active, by not playing” | IDI 11 | mother of a 19 month old boy |
Promoting play and development | ||
a) Types of play | ||
“Yoh I run after her when I feed her, I have to run after her she doesn’t sit down because it’s time to eat. She eats while walking around so we’ll take 2 h because I have to follow her around so she can eat now and finish now. I have to run after her as if we’re playing” | IDI 5 | mother of a 7 month old girl |
“Running, playing with toys and singing that they do at crèche we also do at home; we sing, we do numbers, we do 7 days of the week…” | IDI 6 | mother of a 8 month old boy |
b) Barriers to play | ||
“Ja, only in the house. There’s no space in (my) own yard. Like fence, the razor fence like, (brief silence) and even in the toilet (s)he can get in the toilet, outside toilet it doesn’t have a door” | IDI 2 | mother of a 2 month old girl |
“Ja because people steal kids these days so we always lock the gate so when someone tries to come in, we can hear it” | IDI 10 | mother of an 18 month old boy |
“…help that we need is safe spaces, we’re used to our environment but it’s not safe, because there’s… we’re scared of the incidents such as the one I told you about, with the child being kidnapped; and we don’t have parks, there ones that are there are far and it’s not even safe…” | IDI 2 | mother of a 2 month old girl |
“… the thing that they can help us with are crèches, eish, if we can get proper crèches… because the crèches that our children go to are not alright, there aren’t a lot of toys to play with, like swings and the like for children to play with, and the toys are sparse, so they can help with crèches, and also still on the crèches you find 60 kids to 2 teachers, and the teachers are as young as 22 years and not experienced in looking after children” | IDI 4 | mother of a 6 month old boy |
“… you want to do certain things for your child, like you want your child to go to crèche, or to be active and play with other kids and you find that you don’t have money, and while the grant money is there, it’s not enough because you have to use that money for food and clothes, and sometimes you find that you don’t get enough support that can help you raise the child, and you end up sitting with the child at home, they don’t speak or do anything and they’re not as active as kids who wander around outside… but to go outside and play with other kids and being around other people generally; I think it helps” | IDI 6 | mother of a 8 month old boy |
c) Development in relation to play | ||
“Yes, it shows how far the child is still going to go, when you see a child start crawling be inspired that after that my child is going to the next level I have hope that they will walk no matter what” | IDI 12 | mother of a 23 month old boy |
“My baby was quick to do things so I wouldn’t say there was anything that slowed her down but she was quick to do things ahead of time. On the growth chart it showed that in these months the baby should sit but she was ahead of her time” | IDI 9 | mother of a 17 month old boy |
“You compare him to the kids his age around the area, you look if he’s body is tinier than the others so he looks small and you look at his mind as well if the others are brighter than him or if he’s fine” | IDI 8 | mother of a 13 month old boy |
“Besides experience, for example not all of us here have walking rings, or feeding chairs for the child when they’re 6 months we just put the child on our lap and feed them. So there are things that can help a child like a walking ring, but if you don’t have one you have to find other way to help them learn how to stand, maybe let them stand on the couch for a while until they learn to hold onto something and learn to start walking” | FGDs | |
“[Interviewer]: Do you read books to her? [Mother]: No! (Laughs) those things only happen on TV, those are white people’s things, I only see that on TV I’ve never done it” | IDI 9 | mother of a 17 month old boy |
Gender bias in play | ||
“Boys are active, there isn’t anything that they don’t know how to do. Girls are sensitive, when a boy plays with a girl they must know that that is a girl not a boy, he mustn’t be rough with her” | IDI 12 | mother of a 23 month old boy |
“A girl plays more than a boy and she’s smarter than a boy” | IDI 8 | mother of a 13 month old boy |
“No, when they play it’s the same, they play the same” | IDI 3 | mother of a 4 month old girl |
“[Mother]: No I wouldn’t allow him [to buy a doll]. I will say to him “you are a boy”, only gays play with dolls. Yes, my child isn’t gay he’s a boy. [Interviewer]: But he’s still a baby? [Mother]: No he’s going to grow up with it. These kids don’t forget, my child will grow up to be gay” | IDI 12 | mother of a 23 month old boy |
“When they’re little I think they’re the same like you’ll see a girl playing with a car when a boy comes across a girl’s toy he just takes it so they’re the same when they’re little. I think it depends on the child, it doesn’t matter whether they’re a boy or girl it’s up to the baby how active he/she is” | IDI 9 | mother of a 17 month old boy |
Screen time | ||
“No, (s)he watches maybe 5 min and then (s)he plays again… like maybe if something is interesting (her) (s)he’ll like focus on TV again…” | IDI 2 | mother of a 2 month old girl |
“He sits and watch TV, by the sofa, he eats there” | IDI 1 | mother of a 1 month old boy |
“Yes it’s good because some other cartoons are educational, like Takalani Sesame [South African educational show for children] teaches kids words, and maths and things like that; I think it’s good” | IDI 7 | mother of a 12 month old boy |
“I wouldn’t let her watch TV from the morning – and she only comes to me when she wants to eat… if there are programmes she watches like Ben 10 airs at a certain time when it’s over, she has to go play because she can’t watch TV the whole day, it makes the kid lazy.” | IDI 5 | mother of a 7 month old girl |
Physical activity as an indicator for health
“By how lazy [s]he is, if I find that a baby is fat and doesn’t want to do anything I’ll see then that something isn’t right but if [s]he’s active, [s]he’s normal to me” - IDI 5, mother of a 7 month old girl
“Yes, he’s doing too many things, plus not sleeping early. It’s a bad thing. Maybe he has ADHD I don’t know (laugh). Because aren’t kids who are hyper active, don’t they have ADHD? I have ADHD. I think he has it, he’s too active; I wasn’t active I just had a concentration problem, but he’s too much.” - IDI 1, mother of a 1 month old boy
Promoting play and development
Types of play
Barriers to play
“Uhm, the difficulty is the children from where I live like playing in the street, it’s always packed there and cars so it’s not safe for your baby to play outside because space is limited. So she must play in the yard where you can see her because it’s packed there you could be thinking that your baby is playing but someone kidnapped her. These are the issues so she’s not that free to play anywhere, I have to check every now and then if she’s safe.” – IDI 5, mother of a 7 month old girl
“He plays but there isn’t enough space… in the house there is big space when we sit and watch TV he plays because there’s big space” - IDI 12, mother of a 23 month boy
“Sometimes like if you’re at the mall and your baby wants a ball but you don’t have money and a ball keeps your baby active it’s a problem” - IDI 10, mother of a 18 month old boy
Development in relation to play
“You tell yourself that maybe your child is slow, and you need someone to talk sense into you, like my child’s father often says to me not to go with what other people are doing, and that my child will teeth it’s just not his time yet, because my child’s father’s grandmother often tried to make me feel bad by pointing out that other kids my child’s age have started teething and yet mine hasn’t.” - FGDs
“No I don’t read, I don’t even own a book. (Laughs)” - IDI 5, mother of a 7 month old girl
Gender bias in play
“Ey but boys are rough hey, they’re too active” - IDI 5, mother of a 7 month old girl“Yes, girls are ladies. They know when to stop, and they play properly, boys are rough. I think, I think it’s the treatment. Like girls, girls you treat them like they’re eggs or whatever and then boys, we just allow boys to do anything…” - IDI 1, mother of a 1 month old boy
“I can’t give my boy child a doll (giggle)[Interviewer] If he chooses the doll himself?No, but he must know about playing with balls and cars; not dolls. I’ll tell him that, that’s for girls.” - IDI 11, mother of a 1 month old boy
Yes because girls play with dolls. They don’t want boys to play with dolls[Interviewer] Who?The elders. Because they say he’ll be gay. Yes a boy mustn’t play with a doll it’s worse now because there are a lot of gay people these days[Interviewer] And now is that a concern for you?No I don’t care what he plays with. Mm if he’s gay he’d be gay even if he doesn’t play with a doll” - IDI 8
“Yes there should be some for boys and others for girls because at the end of the day if a boy plays with a girl’s toy it’s a problem. He’ll be gay. No because a certain toy was made for a boy (Laughs) for us black people it’s a problem.[Interviewer] What if you’re in the shop and he just picks up a doll?I’d take it from him and put it aside[Interviewer] If he cries for it?Even if he cries for it, I’d never buy it” - IDI 10
“Ah it depends if she wants to participate in soccer with boys and she can handle it, she must go play. What if she finds netball boring? She must go play” - IDI 5, mother of a 7 month old girl
Screen time
“Yes, he watches TV, like when we’re sitting in the dining room, he’ll watch TV, but he likes adverts a lot of the time, cause even when he’s in the bedroom and they’re playing, if an advert comes on he comes to watch it, or copy it.” – IDI 6, mother of a 8 month old boy
“A lot, they watch cartoons and he loves Mr. Bean, they watch it and even imitate him, they… they watch a lot of TV, like even when the adverts come on they imitate all that’s being said and done. Yoh, they have a time when they’re done playing and they ask to watch TV, maybe like an hour, but sometimes they get bored when they figure out that it’s not what they like watching that’s on the TV playing, but an hour ja.” – IDI 7, mother of a 12 month old boy
“Sometimes it depends because these kids fool us these days, you’ll think they’re doing something serious on the tablet but they’re on social media. But in terms of games, I think they’re good because you can see what the next step is. But hey, I don’t know. I won’t buy her a Tablet, I don’t even give her my phone.” – IDI 5, mother of a 7 month old girl
“I think it’s good because he learns stuff there are cartoons and cartoons have kids and they love them and they learn how to speak English from TV” - IDI 8, mother of a 13 month old boy