UTILIZING PLAY SPACES FOR HERITAGE PRESERVATION IN PRESCHOOLS

Abstract

Play is fundamental to childhood providing more than entertainment, but nurturing cognitive, social, and emotional abilities crucial for growth. Through play, children actively explore and interact with their surroundings, forming the basis for their holistic development. In the past, children not only explored but also learn cultural values and traditions through play. As societies advance, indigenous cultures especially among children are being eroded through global integration. This also brings about several forms of digital entertainment that creates room for inactive lifestyles. Therefore, by incorporating traditional elements in a designed game play space within preschools, it is possible to harness the crucial role of play environments as a promising strategy for reviving cultural practices, traditions and healthy lifestyles, through children’s play activities. This study aims to examine how a designed game play space can impact the physical activity levels of children in preschool settings of Lagos State, Nigeria. Observation of children’s physical activity levels in the designed game play space across five preschools in Lagos state was carried out. Data was analysed and grouped through thematic headings of; physical activity promotion, motivating competition, social collaboration, game acceptance, physical activity variety, high level engagement, learning facilitation, and agility. These findings demonstrate how intentionally designed play environments positively influences children's physical activity, behaviours, and retention of cultural heritage that is increasingly being lost.