Abstract:

In 1959, the United Nations passed the Declaration of the Rights of the Child to reveal the importance of games for children. In recent years, Asian countries including Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea have also begun to build inclusive playgrounds, providing community children with multi-functional game fields, satisfying children's physical, sensory, and social interaction and other diverse game activities, allowing children with different needs to participate, maintaining children's physical and mental health and development, and embodying the spirit of children's equal play right through mutual acceptance and tolerance in games.

The purposes of this study are:
(a) To explore the current situation of the use of inclusive playgrounds;
(b) discuss the impact of game equipment and facilities in inclusive playgrounds on children's development;
(c) discuss parents' satisfaction with using inclusive playgrounds; and
(d) discuss the follow-up improvement of the inclusive game field. The study selected the inclusive playgrounds in the five administrative districts of Taipei City, and conducted random sampling surveys on the three aspects including playground environment planning, playground equipment, and children's ability development after use.

A total of 250 valid surveys were collected. The results of the survey on the use of playgrounds pointed out that most of the children who use the facilities are 2-5 years old, and the parents are 31-45 years old. The average time of each stay is 40-90 minutes, and the longest stays are on holidays or weekends.
In terms of satisfaction, the highest score in playground environmental planning is “I feel that the overall planning and design is different from the previous form, with dynamic and static innovative features (M = 3.42);” the lowest score is "provide a safe and clear way of use (M = 3.25).” The highest score in playground equipment satisfaction is "the playground is flat, and has cushioning and absorption properties, which can prevent children from falling and impacting (M = 3.38);” the lowest score is “equipment material structure is stable, and fasteners, joints, covering devices are free form protrusions, sharpness, jamming, and suspension hazards (M=3.35).” In addition, the lowest score for overall environmental planning is “safe use method” and the lowest score for playground facilities is “equipment material structure.” In addition, parents believed that the playground can contribute children's development are: "stabilize emotions (M = 3.52), development of large body movements (M = 3.48), and enhance social interaction (M = 3.46)." Finally, parents suggested that the current inclusive playground can be further improved in terms of shading facilities, washing facilities and number of play equipment.

The above research results indicated that playgrounds provide children with a variety of exploration and game experiences, but parents pay more attention to the safety, inspection and maintenance of playground equipment and facilities. Finally, in addition to affirming the government’s policy promotion of playgrounds, at the same time, it can also cultivate the public's game literacy for the use of playgrounds. Therefore, safety and games are equally important to move towards more diverse and adaptable playgrounds.

Keywords:

Inclusive playground, satisfaction, children's ability development.