Neighborhood parks and playgrounds are included in the planning of residential areas in Sweden, but the specific requirements and needs of children are seldom considered. In a pilot study in the town of Eslov, a focus group of seven teachers and planners identified outdoor places which they thought were preferred by children, and four boys and four girls around the age of 11 described their everyday outdoor places via show-and-tell walks. Findings showed that teachers and planners believed that the outdoor locations near the residential areas were the places most used by children. This was consistent with what the children described, but for them these areas had other dimensions. The children focused on "small" or "special" places such as a tree, bush, secret hiding place, or hut. The street, the school playground, and a glass-covered arcade were also mentioned. Only two children mentioned a specific playground they also liked. Teachers' descriptions of places often took a child's perspective in that they mentioned small places; planners felt that children should be protected from urban dangers such as traffic, and talked about parks, green areas, or nature; but the children described places in terms of what they did there, seldom mentioning playgrounds, schoolyards, woods, or nature. Of the five green areas that the focus group expected the children to use, the only one used on a daily basis was reserved for a future road. Implications for urban planning are discussed. (Contains 19 references, mostly in Swedish.) (TD)