Young children’s learning about lighting and turn-off behaviour in preschool environments

The study investigates the effect of behavioural interventions on children’s energy-saving habits, with a special focus on children’s ability to turn off the lights in common areas in kindergarten. Through the use of games and visual questions, it was expected that: (i) games would provide knowledge and promote the behaviour, and (ii) visual questions would serve as a reminder and further encourage the behaviour.

The results indicate that the intervention was able to promote the children’s behaviour to some extent in terms of turning off the lights in common areas of the kindergarten when they were not in use. The games were found to have the potential to promote learning about light usage, but the games had no significant effect on the actual behaviour of the children. However, the visual questions served as a reminder and had a positive effect on the actual behaviour. The long-term impact of interventions on behaviour and energy saving remains unclear.

The intervention study uses games and visual questions to promote energy-efficient light behaviour among kindergarten children. The study took place in a kindergarten in Sweden where four departments with a total of 42 children aged three to six years participated. One department served as a control group. The researchers observed, asked the children questions and logged the light usage. In addition, semi-structured group interviews were conducted with 11 kindergarten teachers.

Mattsson, P., & Laike, T. (2022). Young children’s learning about lighting and turn-off behaviour in preschool environments. Energy and Buildings, 268, 112193.