Going to school is about more than just learning scholarly subjects. It is also about developing personal competencies. Considering Danish schoolyard renovations during the past decade, it is evident that an emphasis has been put on movement and physical activity, arguing that it enhances children’s well-being and ability to learn, though ‘physical’ is only one competency that is developed during childhood. Aiming at including the development of more competencies through schoolyard renovations, this thesis seeks to investigate how ‘playful learning’ can support children’s learning and how it can aid co-creating with them, when designing their schoolyard. Building on existing theories of playful learning and co-creation, it is asked as to what the benefits are, how academic and practical knowledge can aid the inclusion of it when designing, and how it can be integrated in a physical design while encouraging co-creation with children. In this context, playful learning is therefore defined as a way for children to learn unknowingly through play, thereby developing the five competencies; creative, cognitive, emotional, physical and social. Co-creation is further defined as a way of designing ‘with’ children instead of ‘for’ children, utilizing playful learning when doing it.

Rooted in a review of literature on playful learning and co-creation, experts were interviewed, reference studies of renovated schoolyards were conducted, a co-creational workshop was held, and analysis of the case schoolyard was performed. These initiatives resulted in a design guide, based on academic and practical knowledge, which was then applied to the case schoolyard; Kærbyskolen in Aalborg, Denmark, where a design was developed. In conclusion, it was discovered that playful learning can afford the five competencies when integrated in a schoolyard and that it can be integrated in a physical design by focusing on what you wish to gain from it, which includes the five competencies. It can further be concluded that playful learning through co-creation is not about the physical design but instead about the children being and feeling heard, while developing a preceding relationship to their new schoolyard.