Visual preferences of pre-school children: an experimental approach

Abstract Within the field of visual comfort, studiess with children have been focused on the study of the impact of lighting on academic performance and not in the assessment of preferences, evidencing the theoretical and methodological lack of this line of study. In the case of younger children, between 4 and 7 years old, the basics skills for verbal communication are still developing, restricting the use of written tests. This paper, a result of a joint work between architecture and psychology, presents an experimental and a multi-method approach to collect the preferences related to the luminous environment, the landscape and the characteristics of use of kindergarten classrooms. The study was conducted in two classrooms of the Colégio Logosófico González Pecotche, in the city of Florianópolis, during August of 2015. Thirty children between 4 and 6 years old participated in this study. The results allowed the identification of the children's preferences for elements of natural landscape and for clearer luminous environments. The relationship they construct between lighting conditions and activities performed was also identified. Finally, the methodological approach was effective in the approximation of the children and the evaluation of preferences regarding the luminous environment of the classrooms.