The effect of learning about forests program in kindergartens on children's attitudes and awareness towards the environment

Learning About Forests Program implemented in kindergartens is an educational approach that enables children to engage directly with nature, aims to foster environmental awareness and a love for the natural world. The program includes outdoor activities, exploratory excursions, and nature-based learning processes, thereby contributing to the support of children's cognitive, emotional, and social development. The main purpose of this research is to determine the effects of Learning About Forest (LEAF) activities implemented in kindergartens on children's attitudes and awareness the environment. The research was conducted using a quasi- experimental desing method with pretest and posttest control groups. The sample of the research consisted of a total of 48 children attending independent kindergarten, 24 in the experimental group and 24 in the control group. Who were continuing their education in an independent kindergarten while environmental education activities based on the Learning About Forest were applied to the experimental group for 9 months, no special environmental education was provided to the control group other than the existing preschool program. The data obtained within the scope of the study were collected using the "Environmental Awareness and Attitude Scale for Preschool Children" (EAASPC), which was developed by Soydan ve Samur (2017). The quantitative data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS program. Independent sample t-test was used to analyze the differences between the groups. As a result of statistical analysis, statistically significant and high level increase was observed environmental attitude and awareness levels between the pretest and posttest in the experimental group, while a statistically significant but much lower increase was experienced between the pretest and posttest in the control group. In the analyses made in the terms of gender varieble when the pretest and posttest results results were compared in both environmental attitude and and environmental awareness scales no statistically significant difference was detected.