The child as an active participant: enhancing the child's attachment to kindergartens through architectural design

Abstract

PurposeRecently, children are no longer considered the passive users of their spaces; they are rather treated as active participants in those spaces design, with their own experiences. The present research aims to investigate the impact of selected architectural variables of kindergartens' design on the child's attachment to the place. It also examines the multi-complex approach in dealing with children in experiments.Design/methodology/approachSpatial analysis and photographing methods were used to analyse the educational spaces in two kindergartens in Greater Cairo, Egypt. In measuring children's place attachment, the research depended on a complex participatory approach, which comprised interviews with children, story completion, children's drawings and visual questionnaires.FindingsThe results of this qualitative study highlight that the design of a kindergarten classroom's details plays a significant role in strengthening the child's place attachment. The results also stress that connection and exposure to nature supports the child's spatial values.Originality/valueThe authors argue that this paper is considered a good basis for including children as the architectural design decision-makers for their buildings, by shedding light on the architect–user relationship and its impact on the design process. It demonstrates how architectural design of child-oriented spaces can promote a child's self-identity and perception.

Uncovering placemaking needs with(in) a kindergarten community: a cross-disciplinary approach to participatory design

“…While the benefits of involving teachers and students in the building design process are recognized by the educational research (Könings and McKenney, 2017) and the educational and child psychology fields (Woolner, 2011) with multiple reported studies, the reports are rather scarce when it comes to involving young children in the design of their ECEC environments. The few studies on this topic do report promising findings (Rasmussen, 2004;Clark and 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1126276 Frontiers in Psychology 03 frontiersin.org Bakr et al, 2018;Beheiry and Gabr, 2021), however, they neglect to take into account and combine their findings with the teachers' views and needs.…”

A study on children's multi-sensorial experiences of nature: design approaches and preferences for primary school architecture case studies in Glasgow, Scotland, UK

“…This is one of the central issues of environmental psychology - how different architectural and natural attributes within a spatial environment provoke different affective states and interactions in various types of individuals, such as reactions of liking or disliking, engaging or averse, exciting or boring. Similarly, it is important for us to understand children's perspectives of ideal environments at primary schools to identify design features that can enhance their attraction to nature (Beheiry and Gabr, 2022; Ghaziani, 2021; Ghaziani et al. , 2021).…”