Preventive Play as a Psycho-Educational Entry Point to Develop Safe Environmental Practices for Kindergarteners

Abstract

This study aims to analyze and evaluate the role of preventative play as a key strategy within the psycho-educational intervention methodologies for assessing environmental behaviors among kindergarten children. The analytical procedural methodology relied on administering a questionnaire to a random sample of 139 kindergarten children and a sample of over 120 kindergarten teachers from 40 different public and private kindergartens. The children's questionnaire comprised five sections: environmental awareness, daily environmental behaviors, perception of environmental hazards, response through play, and related observations. The teachers' questionnaire covered knowledge of the concept of preventative play, educational practices, behavior development, psychological aspects, and obstacles and suggestions. The results indicated a rise in children's environmental awareness and a clear improvement in their daily environmental behaviors after participating in a three-month intervention—a preventative play learning strategy. This included improved responsiveness in play situations and greater accuracy in understanding safe environmental behaviors. The results also showed a significant increase in kindergarten teachers' awareness of the concept of preventative play, along with their effective ability to reduce negative psychological aspects in children. Furthermore, a positive correlation was found between the extent to which teachers practice preventative play and the level of safe environmental behavior in children. Therefore, the study recommends integrating preventative play activities into the official kindergarten curriculum, developing a procedural guide for teachers that includes preventative play models linked to safe environmental behaviors, and implementing specialized training programs on the concept of preventative play and its applications for kindergarten teachers. This training should also include practical behavioral assessment methods and encourage the exchange of experiences among teachers. Regarding the kindergarten environment, the study recommends providing preventative play tools and behaviors and creating an environment conducive to supporting safe environmental behavior in children.