Suggestions for the investigation and development of students' breaktime activities in primary schools

When primary school students spend productive time in breaktime periods, the students returns to their class ready to learn. In addition to contributing to the physical and emotional development of the students, having suitable environments for the breaktime in the school establishes and strengthens positive relationships with their friends, supports and encourages learning. Breaktime has a very important role on education, so in order to have a more efficient break, breaktime areas should be made attractive for students. In this study, it was aimed to compare the playgrounds developed by researcher with the existing school equipment in order to make the time spent during the breaktime and lunch break more efficient at a school selected for the research. The study was carried out with 662 students who were educated in a Primary School in the West Black Sea Region between October and December 2019. within the scope of the study, it was determined how the students spent their breaks in the school corridors and the schoolyard before the playgrounds and activity areas were improved, and the level of noise during the break times in these areas. Later, in accordance with the purpose of the study by the researcher, playground designs were drawn to the school corridors and the schoolyard, and these areas were made more functional for the use of students. In order for the students to use the prepared playgrounds effectively, trainings about the playgrounds were provided to adapt students more easily. Finally, students' state of the use of these playgrounds was measured. At this stage of the study, the measurement of how students spend their breaktime in the school corridors and the schoolyard and the level of noise was measured during the breaktime. Thus, the contribution of newly applied playgrounds to student behavior was investigated. In this research, which has a descriptive and experimental design, survey and observation techniques were used as a data collection tool. In order to compare the previous situation and the current situation during the survey application, data were obtained from the same subjects. In the analysis of the data obtained, difference tests were used to determine the frequency, percentage values, pre and post noise levels from descriptive statistics for quantitative data. In the analysis of qualitative data, content analysis was conducted. With the playgrounds and playground equipment designed within the scope of this study, it was seen that the students spent their breaktime time more efficiently. In addition, it was observed that students spent time more calm and disciplined during the breaktime with a trained play type. The improvements in the playgrounds as a result of the study have turned the school environment into a quieter and calmer environment and it has been determined that it contributes to less student-focused problems in breaktime and a positive effect on educational activities at school. Keywords: Breaktime at primary schools, playground design, noise at breaktime, student plays