An Analysis of Primary School-Aged Children’s Drawings and Their Play Area Preferences

The aim of this study was to study the expectations of children in the 8-10 age group regarding their play areas, and to generate planning and design data for these areas accordingly. For the study, which used cognitive mapping procedures, 176 children studying in the third and fourth years of a primary institution in Istanbul were asked to draw their fantasy children's play areas. In the analysis of their drawings, the children's preferences were identified in three main categories: the natural environment, the built environment, and human features. At the end of the evaluation, it was determined that there was a higher preference among the children for elements of the built environment, relative to the natural environment.