Development of Traditional Children's Playgrounds with an Innovative Approach

Creative Commons License

Aşur F.

JOURNAL OF BUILDINGS AND ARCHITECTURE (JBA), cilt.2, sa.2, ss.1-7, 2025 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Traditional games provide cultural transmission at a young age, thus protecting both cultural heritage and enabling children to gain an identity appropriate to their culture on their way to becoming individuals belonging to society. In this period when technology has regressed children’s games and is on the verge of being forgotten, it is deemed necessary to re-evaluate children’s games and ensure that they are played and transformed into new designs. Many traditional games played in Van (Türkiye) province such as xertok, şütük, elekgane, enek, kâl have gained meaning by reinforcing their cultural/social identities. The aim of the study is to focus on the importance of these games played in the past and present in the traditional culture of Van in neighborhoods and streets. To allocate space in the landscaping arrangements of the city's parks and streets so that these games are not forgotten and to develop suggestions that encourage the teaching of games with an innovative approach. The research was conducted in three interrelated stages. These are collecting data on the subject, obtaining game information from source persons, analysis and evaluation, and developing suggestions. In the arrangement of children's playgrounds, different professional disciplines such as child psychologists, sociologists, educators, landscape architects, engineers should be included in the working team and guide local governments by taking into consideration the age groups of children, their requests, and the cultural heritage of the region. In this way, the intangible cultural heritage will be identified and the protection function will be fulfilled.