An investigation of playgrounds belonging to preschool education institutions and municipalities (The case of Kütahya province)

Playgrounds are spaces designed for children's social, emotional, language, cognitive and physical development, as well as areas where children have fun by engaging in physical activities, socialize, increase their creativity and explore nature. In our country, children's playgrounds are mostly equipped with standard play equipment. However, children's playgrounds should be designed to be safe, to increase children's creativity, to develop their imagination, to support them developmentally holistically and to be designed by experts with design criteria. In this study, the contents of children's playgrounds and whether they have good-safe conditions and the effect of managers on the design and construction of playgrounds were investigated. Mixed research method and convergent parallel design were used in the study. In the quantitative dimension of the study, the playgrounds of a total of fifteen public, private, and municipal preschool education institutions in Kütahya, which were determined by convenient sampling method, were examined using the 'Playground Evaluation Scale' (Frost et al., 2001). In the qualitative dimension of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a municipality administrator, five public and five private preschool administrators selected by convenience sampling method. According to the findings, it was determined that playgrounds have standard play equipment, attention is paid to the ground and the durability of the equipment, but not enough attention is paid to water, sand, construction, natural materials, and being accessible and inclusive for all children. According to the results obtained from the interviews with the managers of the institutions, it was found that they did not have enough say in the construction and design phase of the playgrounds and that the opinions and wishes of the children were not included. As a result, with the changing age, children's playgrounds should be designed and implemented in line with playground criteria. It is recommended that the equipment of playgrounds should be renewable and replaceable, built in accordance with safety and design criteria, and the opinions of playground users should be included. Key Words: Child, Play, Playground