RECYCLING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN

Pre-school period is critically important for children to acquire positive attitudes and behaviors towards their environment, and to form the basis for their future lives. environmental education in this period has an impact on children's environmental awareness and attitudes. recycling is an essential component of environmental education. this research is a qualitative study that investigates the awareness of pre-school children about recycling. 41 children between the ages of 3-6 and attending pre-school education participated in the study. data were collected using the draw-tell technique. interpretive content analysis method was used to analyse the data. results of the study showed that pre-school children had limited perceptions about recycling. children in the three-year-old group were found to include symbols not related to recycling. the pictures of the four and five-year-old groups related recycling to environmental pollution and throwing/not throwing waste in the bin, however, in the drawings of the five-year-old group, it was observed that recycling bin, garbage separation and recyclable materials icons appeared more when compared with the other age groups.