Children’s Geographies and Leisure Time in Rural Areas: Experiences and Perceptions from Boys and Girls Between Eleven and Twelve Years Old

Abstract

The current research is framed within children’s geographies, in particular those children educated in rural areas. It explores the meanings that boys and girls give to the spaces they use and live in during their leisure time and the ways they interact with. For that purpose, we have given voice, listened to and we have worked with students between eleven and twelve years old from a rural school located in Pla de l’Estany. Applying a qualitative research model, a wide range of methodologies have been used in order to cover all the experiences lived for all the students. The paper also reflects on the diversity of lived spaces, different meanings that are given to these spaces, the degree of idealization of the rural world, and the children’s social and spatial practices based on their identity, gender or context.