Experiences and Attitudes of Parents about Children’s Free Time at Children’s Sports Playgrounds

Abstract

The importance of children’s stay at children’s playgrounds is important for the overall development of children. Numerous studies support children’s stay at playgrounds to develop social, cognitive, and psychomotor skills. The goal of this study was to determine the attitudes of parents of early and preschool children about children’s stay at playgrounds and parents’ experiences with the equipment of children’s playgrounds. Also, this study aims to correlate factors that affects children´s visit to playground. For the research, a questionnaire was constructed that contains units that examine the equipment of children’s playgrounds, attitudes about the frequency of visits to children’s playgrounds, and attitudes about the importance of visiting children’s playgrounds. The research is carried out online and includes the population of parents of children of early and preschool age in the Republic of Croatia. The results of this research show the proximity of children’s playgrounds, from 100 to 250 meters, to the respondent’s place of residence. In all regions, the greatest availability is space for jogging and walking, while the least available space is for table tennis. Multiple regression analysis showed a statistically significant correlation of R=0.45 between visiting children’s playgrounds and parents’ attitudes and opinions about children’s playgrounds. Our results show that the distance of children´s playgrounds largely depends on their attendance, but their equipment is not important for children’s physical activity.