An investigation of pre-school children’s and their parents’ outdoor play experiences

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate outdoor play experiences of preschool children in Turkey and to compare the experiences of these children with previous generation. The sample of the study consists of 398 parents with children aged 3-6 years old attending to a pre-school education institution in the province of Adana, a city located in the south of Turkey. The questionnaire of “the parents and children’s outdoor play experiences”, which was based on the study of Clements (2004) was adapted by the researchers and was used as the data collection tool. While the quantitative data were analysed through frequency and percentage, the qualitative data were analysed by means of content analysis. Results revealed that today’s children got involved in outdoor play activities significantly less than their parents did. Health conditions, safety concern, lack of environmental opportunities and use of technological device (computer, television, tablet pc etc.) were reported as the main reasons of the findings in the present study by parents. The results show similarity with the related literature.