Abstract:

Today, the biggest problem of unplanned developing cities is increasing urbanization. For our children who are our bright future, playgrounds in the physical environment are an important factor in growing up as healthy individuals. However, children who can not find a safe playground in urban areas become more dependent on the technology such as television and computers. Thus, there are many children who are less interacted with nature, who can not discover nature and themselves, can not play creative games with their peers and lacking sociality are being included in society. Especially for children in the elementary school age who spend most of their time in school, school gardens are areas where they can socialize with friends, play games, find physical and mental activities. In this study, random selection has been made from the schools in the city center of Niğde, taking into account the importance of school gardens in the development of children. The situation of the selected schools, the open space per student, the use of the gardens, the elements of the equipments and the areas determined as playgrounds were determined and the presence of situations that put children at risk in the school gardens has been evaluated. As a result, in the light of the data obtained from the schools, some suggestions have been made for the establishment of safe playgrounds for children in school gardens and to plan the school gardens to contribute to the development of children.

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