Abstract:

Playgrounds that are part of modern life have an important role to increase the life quality of children and families. Although it has increased need for planned and well-equipped play areas it is recently discussed how much they are satisfying and how the quality is in the play areas. This paper describes parents’ perspectives on local public playgrounds and discusses the effect of the surrounding landscape on playground. 105 mothers and 105 fathers participated in this study. Data were obtained by using “Outdoor Play Area Evaluation Form”. The results showed that children mostly were supervised by their mothers in the playground and parents preferred the play areas to support their children’s development. Although they were satisfied with the play area, playgrounds failed to meet children’ basic needs and provide safety environment. Maternal education level, duration and number of children were effective factors to understand the play areas quality. The implications of the study focus on the play ground safety, meeting basic needs of children and provision of well-equipment and grounds.

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