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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Preschool children's indoor and outdoor playground HSV
color preferences
Paniz Mousavi Samimi | Nasim Sadraei Tabatabaei
Department of Architecture, Islamic Azad
University, Tabriz, Iran
Correspondence
Nasim Sadraei Tabatabaei, Department of
Architecture, Islamic Azad University,
Tabriz, Iran.
Email: stu.n.sadraei@iaut.ac.ir
Abstract
Proper use of colors, as an essential element of children's playground, can
result in a more appropriate environment for children. Therefore, the current
study evaluates the impact of Hue, Saturation, and Value (HSV) colors on pre-
school children's preferences at the ages of 5 and 6. 16 color palettes and 2 play-
ground scenes were presented to children in order to identify their
preferences. Results demonstrated that cool colors with a Saturation of 75 and
a Value of 75 for indoor playground and warm colors with a Saturation of
75 and a Value of 50 for outdoor playground were the most preferred colors.
Moreover, to investigate the impact of socioeconomic status on children's envi-
ronmental color preferences, Mann-Whitney Utest was conducted and the
results revealed a significant difference between the Value preference of chil-
dren living in the lower class and upper class neighborhoods. However, no sig-
nificant differences were observed in terms of HSV preferences between boys
and girls and also between children at the ages of 5 and 6.
KEYWORDS
environmental color preference, HSV, indoor playground, outdoor playground, preschool
children
1|INTRODUCTION
Children, due to their physical and mental restrictions
when compared to adults,
1
are more influenced by and
more dependent on the environment; thus, the built envi-
ronment greatly effects their moods, feelings,
2
and physi-
cal health.
3-6
Color, as an essential element in children's
built environment, has three characteristics called Hue
(name of the color), Value (darkness or lightness), and
Saturation (brightness or dullness) whose combinations
result in identifiable colors.
7
Research on colors indicate
a variety of impacts on children,
8-12
with preferences
being one of them.
13
In the meantime, several studies
have revealed some side effects of colorlessness and white
environments
14
; simple color contrast can negatively
affect visual comfort
15
and cause problems for children's
wayfinding
16
in indoor and outdoor spaces. Therefore,
considering the importance of color on children's prefer-
ences, especially in their daily environments such as
playgrounds, this component needs to be investigated in
detail in order to achieve a proper design solution for
children.
1.1 |Children's color preferences
Research regarding color preference dates back to at least
two centuries ago
17
and is mostly focused on Hue, rather
than Saturation and Value, however, there is some con-
troversy related to the studies because the results vary. It
is generally believed that blue-green colors are preferred
more, on the other hand, yellow and yellow-green colors
are the least preferred among people.
18-20
In addition, the
preferred sequence of blue, red, green, purple, orange,
Received: 13 March 2021 Revised: 5 November 2021 Accepted: 9 November 2021
DOI: 10.1002/col.22759
Color Res Appl. 2021;1–13. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/col © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC. 1
and yellow, suggested by Eysenck, was consistent with
more recent research.
21,22
Previous works on Saturation
and Value preferences indicate that brighter and more
saturated colors are mostly preferred.
19,20,23,24
Another
study suggested that high value with moderate to low sat-
uration and high saturation with moderate to high value
to be preferred.
25
According to Zemach et al, varieties in
the used stimuli are supposedly the reason of differences
in preferences.
26
As colors play a significant role in children's prefer-
ences, researchers have studied the impact of colors on
children under various conditions. Preference is the rela-
tive strength of discriminated operants,
27
which is often
measured as a pattern of choosing. That is to say,
researchers describe a pattern of responding under the
control of the stimuli that comprise a choice. Many stud-
ies have indicated a significant difference in children's
color preference as a result of the difference in their gen-
der and age. As there is no evidence of different color
preferences for infants the change in people's color pref-
erences evolve over time.
28
The effects of gender stereo-
types on this evolution itself cannot be overlooked,
though.
29
According to LoBue, until the age of 2, girls
mostly prefer pink whereas boys mostly dislike it.
30
Between the ages of 2 and 3, there are marginal gender
differences in children's color choice, which intensifies
after the age of 3.
31
Based on the results of the study con-
ducted by Read and Upington,
32
children between the
ages of 3 to 5 are more likely to choose red among purple,
blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and gray for interior
spaces; moreover, they prefer cool colors over warm ones.
A recent study has revealed that pink and purple are
more preferred by girls, yellow by boys and blue by both
groups.
33
Further investigations on the children between
the ages of 7 to 9 have shown that as they get older, they
tend to prefer yellow.
10
Meanwhile, as girls get older they
are more likely to prefer bright colors; however, boys
may have a better feeling toward dark colors.
34
As color
preferences among girls and boys continue to be different
until adulthood,
33,35,36
it is impossible to generalize the
results of a specific age to all age ranges. Therefore, the
importance of children's color preference evaluation,
especially at shorter and more accurate age ranges,
become more prominent than ever.
Children's various environmental color preferences
(ECP) such as healthcare centers
37,38
and educational
centers
10,39
have also come to the attention of
researchers. As children spend a lot of time in kindergar-
ten and receive a variety of visual stimuli from the combi-
nation of colors, textures and materials in the walls,
floors and ceilings,
32
designing a proper kindergarten
environment that would enrich their quality of life, has
become a prominent issue. Many studies have
recommended listening to and consulting with children
in the process of designing indoor and outdoor environ-
ments.
40,41
Since in designing environments for children,
designers often use colors which are pleasant for adults,
the importance and necessity of a more detailed study of
children's ECP increases greatly.
32
However, most of the
research conducted in this field is poorly evaluated and
has little control over the presented colors. That is to say,
there were neither indication of colors' chromatic coordi-
nates nor control on the illuminant that colors were
shown under.
22
Accordingly, regardless of inadequate
knowledge about the exact colors that were shown, sub-
jective terms for colors were used in order to study color
preferences.
In addition, some research has indicated that socio-
economic status of people can influence their perception
about the (esthetic) quality of an environment; Residents
of Low-income neighborhoods reported that they have
less favorable environments, while in the high-income
areas, environmental quality was perceived to be
greater.
42-44
Likewise, environmental quality can affect
people's visual preferences,
45
therefore, indicating a
potential relation between people's socioeconomic status
and their visual preferences. Considering the intense
social and economic stratification in Tabriz,
46,47
chil-
dren's color preferences may vary according to their liv-
ing condition, which is worthwhile examining.
1.2 |Research objectives
With the aim of creating a more accurate context for
designing playgrounds in kindergartens,
48-50
the current
study evaluates the preferred color characteristics of 5-
and 6-year-old preschool children
10,32,36
in these environ-
ments. The studied characteristics of color are Hue, Satu-
ration, and Value,
23,51,52
which have been divided into
categories. To evaluate Hue according to the color tem-
perature, two subcategories (warm and cool)
53
were
selected and regarding Value and Saturation, based on
their intensity, three subcategories were selected (V1:
25, V2: 50, V3: 75) (S1: 25, S2: 50, S3: 75) (Table 1).
23
Warm and cool color classification for Hue is based on
the previous research as purple, bluish-purple, blue,
bluish-green, green, and yellowish-green are considered
cool, while yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange,
red, and red-violet are considered warm.
54
Since people's
preferences vary in different environments and environ-
mental elements affect people's preferences,
55-57
the iden-
tified factors have been examined once in an indoor
playground and once in an outdoor playground sepa-
rately. In addition, considering the impact of socioeco-
nomic status on the perception of environmental
2MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI
quality
42
and the impact of environmental quality on
visual preferences,
45
there could be a difference between
the visual preferences of children living in in the lower
class and upper class neighborhoods. Therefore, the other
purpose of the current research is to investigate the effect
of socioeconomic status, age, and gender on
children's ECP.
2|METHOD
2.1 |Participant
The Cochran's formula
58
was used in order to calculated
the sample size, which included 109 preschool children
who were selected almost equally from upper class and
lower class neighborhood's kindergartens to answer the
questionnaire (upper class: 55 children, lower class:
54 children). participants were selected by stratified ran-
dom sampling method to prevent demographical bias
between the groups; as a result, 51.4% of the participants
consisted of girls, 48.6% boys, and 47.7% and 52.3% were
at the ages of 5 and 6, respectively. Visual acuity of all
participants was reported as normal or corrected-to-nor-
mal and each participant also passed Ishihara's color
blindness test,
59
having normal color vision.
2.2 |Data collection
Quantitative-survey research method was chosen for con-
ducting the current study. As photos can represent the
actual environment,
60
it is considered to be a valid
medium to study preferences,
61,62
therefore, photo ques-
tionnaire was used for collecting the data. The designed
questionnaire contained two parts, gathering demo-
graphic information (ie, gender, age, neighborhood) and
a photo questionnaire for identifying participants ECP. In
the second part, two kindergarten playground scenes,
indoor and outdoor, were stimulated with Autodesk
3DMax 2018, using neutral colors (white, gray, and
crème) for the floor, ceiling and furniture, applying natu-
ral day light and by keeping the wall colors white, in
order to avoid children from being distracted. Afterwards,
TABLE 1 Categorized Hue, Saturation, and Value for research
Variable Categorization Colors
a
Question1 (indoor Hue preference)
Question7 (outdoor Hue preference)
Palette 1 (Cool)
Palette 2 (Warm)
Question2 (indoor Hue preference)
Question8 (outdoor Hue preference)
Palette 1 (Cool)
Palette 2 (Warm)
Characteristics: S: 75
V: 100
S: 50
V: 100
S: 25
V: 100
S: 10
V: 75
S: 100
V: 50
S: 100
V: 25
Question3 (indoor Saturation preference)
Question9 (outdoor Saturation preference)
Palette 1 (S75)
Palette 2 (S50)
Palette 3 (S25)
Question4 (indoor Saturation preference)
Question10 (outdoor Saturation preference)
Palette 1 (S75)
Palette 2 (S50)
Palette 3 (S25)
Characteristics: H: Cool
V:100
H: Cool
V:100
H: Cool
V:100
H: Warm
V:100
H: Warm
V:100
H: Warm
V:100
Question5 (indoor Value preference)
Question11 (outdoor Value preference)
Palette 1 (V75)
Palette 2 (V50)
Palette 3 (V25)
Question6 (indoor Value preference)
Question12 (outdoor Value preference)
Palette 1 (V75)
Palette 2 (V50)
Palette 3 (V25)
Characteristics: H: Cool
S: 100
H: Cool
S: 100
H: Cool
S: 100
H: Warm
S: 100
H: Warm
S: 100
H: Warm
S: 100
a
According to the viewing monitors' display quality and size, discerning difference between colors might be troublesome.
MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI 3
six color groups, consisting of 16 color palettes rep-
resenting research's variables, along with the two stimu-
lated playground pictures (12 sheets) were shown to the
children. They were then asked which color palette they
prefer for the painted the walls of this image (Figure 1)
(see Appendix for the whole photo questionnaire slides).
In the meantime, the given answers were recorded by the
researcher; as the participant chose and said which one
they prefer, the researcher took note. The wall color did
not change after participants chose their preferred color
palette. By referring to the recent work of Jiang, the chil-
dren's ECP was evaluated by only asking them to choose
between colors.
36
In order to display the color palettes
and playground pictures, a 15.6 in. monitor was used
(ASUS ZenScreen, 1080P Portable Monitor, MB16AC).
The color palettes were designed by Adobe Photoshop
CC 2019 and they were not printed out to prevent the
probable change of HSV.
2.3 |Research procedure
The present study was conducted in four kindergartens
of Tabriz, Iran. In order to identify the effect of socioeco-
nomic status on preschool children's HSV preferences,
two of the kindergartens (Happy stars land, V-kids) were
located in the upper class neighborhoods, and two of
them (Parisan, Golhaye iman) in the lower class neigh-
borhoods (Figure 2).
47
After pretest, reliable question-
naires were distributed from March to November 2020.
Given the restrictions imposed due to the widespread
outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Iran and the consec-
utive closure of kindergartens in the study areas, the
research process lasted about 8 months. The research
procedure took place in a quiet classroom and under nat-
ural daylight condition
63
with the attendance of
researchers, participant and head of the kindergarten. In
order to prevent the influence of surrounding
environment on children's color perception, the class-
room chosen for the research had low spatial complexity
with simple furniture, neutral colors, and sufficient natu-
ral daylight.
32
The first part of the questionnaire, regard-
ing demographic information of children, was completed
by the head of the kindergarten, and the second part,
which included photo questionnaire, was completed by
children. It is also worthwhile mentioning that the
approval to study on preschool children was achieved
through supervision of a psychology professor and direc-
tor of a Child Health Counseling Clinic whom research's
main focus is on children. As the study's process does not
affect the participants in any way, the need for IRB
approval was waived.
2.4 |Data analysis
The data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 26
(IBM SPSS Statistics software). To assess the reliability of
the questionnaire, Cronbach's αwas calculated for the
variables, which by being above 0.7 (Saturation: 0.72,
Value: 0.81, Hue: 0.75), demonstrated internal consis-
tency. At first, descriptive statistics and data frequency
were studied to determine children's HSV preferences.
Afterwards, for identifying the effect of socioeconomic
status, age and gender on preschool children's HSV pref-
erences, Mann-Whitney Utest was used due to the non-
normality of data.
3|RESULTS
3.1 |Preschool children's playground
HSV preferences
The frequency of the data indicated that children have
diverse preferences of HSV in indoor and outdoor
FIGURE 1 Two sheets of the questionnaire for evaluating Saturation preference in indoor and outdoor playgrounds—Question
number: 3 and 9 (according to the viewing monitors' display quality and size, discerning difference between colors might be troublesome)
4MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI
playgrounds. Regarding Hue preference in indoor play-
grounds, children prefer cool colors (53.2%) more than
warm colors (46.8%); however, in outdoor playgrounds,
they prefer warm colors (50.45%) more than cool colors
(49.55%) with marginal difference (refer to Table 1 in
order to see the warm color and cool color classifica-
tion). Considering Saturation, the difference between
S
1
75 (36.2%) and S50 (35.8%) preference in indoor play-
ground is negligible: in outdoor playground, this differ-
ence is slightly intensified and S75 (42.2%) is preferred
with a little more difference. Also, the preference of
S25 is significantly higher in indoor playground (28%)
than in outdoor playground (19.25%). Results of Value
preferences demonstrate that V
2
75 (49.55%) is pre-
ferred over V50 (33.9%) in indoor playground while in
outdoor playground, with a very small difference, the
choice of V50 (41.3%) is higher than V75 (40.8%), and
V25 in both playgrounds (16.5-17.9%) is almost equally
preferred. In general, results show that cool colors with
Saturation of 75 and Value of 75 are the most preferred
colors by preschool children for their playgrounds
(Figure 3).
FIGURE 2 Research area
FIGURE 3 Preschool children's HSV preferences in playgrounds
MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI 5
3.2 |The impact of socioeconomic
status, age, and gender on preschool
children's HSV preferences
According to the results of Mann-Whitney Utest
(Table 2), there is a significant difference between the
ECP of children living in the lower class neighborhoods
and children living in the upper class neighborhoods in
terms of Value (P=.044, Z=2.011); however, no sig-
nificant difference was observed regarding Saturation
and Hue. Besides, the results of the test demonstrated
that in terms of playground type, there is a significant dif-
ference only in the indoor playground (P=.033,
Z=2.137); therefore, by using descriptive statistics,
Crosstabs, the difference in Value preference between
these two groups in indoor playground is explained. The
results show that children living in upper class neighbor-
hoods prefer V75 more than V50 with a major difference
(V75: 29.35%, V50: 14.65%); however, for children living
in the lower class neighborhoods, there is only a little dif-
ference between their preference for V75 and V50 (V75:
20.15%, V50: 19.25%). Meanwhile, choosing V25 is higher
among children living in the lower class neighborhoods
(V25: 10.11%), compared to the other group (V25: 6.50%).
To identify the differences between demographic groups
in color preferences, Mann-Whitney Uwas used again,
which demonstrated that there is no difference between
the ECP of girls and boys, as well as between 5- and 6-
year olds.
4|DISCUSSION
The importance of color effects on humans,
53,64,65
espe-
cially children,
10,36,63
has long been the focus of
researchers, psychologists and designers, and the com-
plexity and nature of these effects have led to the forma-
tion of many studies in this field. The current research
enlightens the effects of HSV on preschool children's
preferences, which shows that in general, they prefer
high saturation and value. This is in line with the results
of other studies that concluded the brightest and most
saturated colors are preferred the most.
23,24,36,66,67
According to the results, children at the age of 5 and
6 prefer cool colors to warm colors, which also applies to
different age groups, from 3-year-old children to the
elderly.
32,53,68,69
Also, environment is usually considered
as an influential factor on color preferences,
53,70
which is
consistent with the difference in children's HSV prefer-
ences of indoor and outdoor playgrounds.
Regarding the influences of demographic characteris-
tics on ECP, as opposed to many studies which have
reported significant difference between men and women
at different ages,
10,36,70
the current study results are not
compatible with them. The reason for this issue could be
the small gap between participants' ages (1 year) or the
impact of culture on preferences.
22
Since visual prefer-
ences is dependent on environmental perception
45
and
environmental perception is dependent on socioeco-
nomic status,
42
the current study evaluated the effect of
socioeconomic status on children's HSV preferences
which, as expected, identified a significant difference but
only in the Value of colors. Because no previous study
has evaluated the impact of socioeconomic status on
HSV, it is not possible to compare the results and support
triangulation; therefore, when citing the effect of socio-
economic situations on children's color Value preference,
research limitations must be considered.
5|CONCLUSION
The present study evaluated the HSV preferences of pre-
school children. In general, it is concluded that cool
colors with Saturation of 75 and Value of 75 were the
most preferred colors by children for their playgrounds.
Furthermore, these preferences were studied in both
indoor and outdoor spaces and the results indicated that
cool colors with Saturation of 75 and Value of 75 were
preferred for indoor playground and warm colors with
TABLE 2 Mann-Whitney Uresults of color HSV/playground type
Color characteristics Playground type
Value Saturation Hue Indoor Outdoor
Socioeconomic status Znumber 2.011 1.898 0.197 2.137 1.783
PValue .044 .058 .844 .033 .075
Gender Znumber 0.258 0.009 1.298 0.352 0.722
PValue .796 .993 .194 .725 .470
Age Znumber 0.756 0.352 1.348 0.949 1.709
PValue .450 .725 .178 .343 .088
6MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI
Saturation of 75 and Value of 50 were preferred for out-
door playground. Since an in-depth study of ECP among
different social groups can provide more detailed infor-
mation regarding the disparity in the preferences among
various groups and the necessity to design based on the
needs of each group, the present study investigated the
effects of socioeconomic status, age, and gender on pre-
school children's HSV preferences. The only identified
impact of socioeconomic status on the HSV preferences
of preschool children for their playgrounds was that chil-
dren living in upper class neighborhoods were more
likely to choose bright colors compared to children living
in the lower class neighborhoods, and conversely, chil-
dren in the lower class neighborhoods prefer dark colors.
Also, no significant differences were observed between
the preferences of girls and boys, and 5- and 6-year olds.
Therefore, having considered these outcomes, it is impor-
tant for designers to consider creating environments that
accommodate these features.
5.1 |Limitation
Since the current study was conducted at the time of the
Covid-19 outbreak in Iran, there is a possibility of the
impact of this pandemic and, consequently, the succes-
sive closure of kindergartens on the results. The authors
did not examine other age groups and only the HSV pref-
erences in kindergarten's playgrounds have been exam-
ined; therefore, the results may be different in other
kindergarten spaces as well as other environments.
5.2 |Suggestions for further studies
A single study is not sufficient to examine the complexity
of the difference between HSV preferences in various
social groups. Therefore, it is suggested that in the future
studies of children's ECP, researchers examine the effects
of socioeconomic status in detail. The current study indi-
cated that children at the age of 5 and 6 living in the upper
class neighborhoods prefer brighter colors (V75), and
those living in the lower class neighborhoods prefer darker
colors (V25); However, the reason for this difference is not
clear and can be investigated in future studies. Also, due
to the varying ECP during different seasons
71
and the fact
that this study was conducted during several seasons, it is
suggested to study children's HSV preferences in play-
grounds separately in each season. Examining HSV prefer-
ences in various spaces, different age groups and also rural
areas can improve our knowledge of individuals' social
and economic differences and further clarify the need for
adopting different and proper design approach based on
the specific characteristics of users.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
Study concept and design, analysis and interpretation of
data: Paniz M. Samimi. Drafting of the manuscript:
Nasim S. Tabatabaei. All authors contributed equally in
the preparation of this manuscript.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
The authors declared no conflict of interests.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are avail-
able from the corresponding author upon reasonable
request.
ORCID
Paniz Mousavi Samimi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
9332-1502
Nasim Sadraei Tabatabaei https://orcid.org/0000-0003-
0856-2852
ENDNOTES
1
Saturation.
2
Value.
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
Paniz Mousavi Samimi received an MS degree in
interior architecture from IAUT in 2019. She is a grad-
uate research assistant in environmental psychology
fields and experienced interior designer. Her current
research interests include visual preferences and
multi-sensory perception.
Nasim Sadraei Tabatabaei received a BS in archi-
tecture and MS in Interior architecture. She is a pro-
fessional interior designer and 3D visualizer. Her
research interests mainly focus on adaptive reuse, cul-
tural heritage and color science.
How to cite this article: Mousavi Samimi P,
Sadraei Tabatabaei N. Preschool children's indoor
and outdoor playground HSV color preferences.
Color Res Appl. 2021;1-13. doi:10.1002/col.22759
MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI 9
APPENDIX A.
The questionnaire used in the current research (The actual questionnaire was written in Persian language which is
presented in English here).
10 MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI
MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI 11
12 MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI
MOUSAVI SAMIMI AND SADRAEI TABATABAEI 13
