Pre-school Classroom Environment: Significant upon Childrens' Play Behaviour?

This paper investigated the relationship between the physical environment of public pre-schools and the children's play behavior. Three types of physical environment of 20 classrooms in 10 Selangor's pre-schools, and the children's five types of play behaviours were investigated. Data collection involved 264 preschool teachers' questionnaire respondents, natural unobtrusive observations with video recordings upon 494 pre-school children, structured interviews upon 20 pre-school teachers and 37 professional interior architects and Moore's (2008) Children's Physical Environment Rating Scale (CPERS). Data were analysed using the SPSS statistical analysis. Influence of the physical environment upon the childrens' behavior was supported and best practices suggested.