Kindergarten

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Nursery School

Category

Public Facilities, Commercial Facilities, Services, Tourism

Message / Function

To indicate facilities or institutions for the temporary care of preschool children

	Source	Description
1)	ÖNORM A 3011	Female grown up and three children arranged as performing a circle dance
2)	ON Testdesign	Female grown up and two children all holding hands
3)	ON Testdesign	Female grown up and two children, one holding a ball
	KKV-CH	Female grown up and three children, all holding hands
	Unknown	Female grown up and two children all holding hands
	CNIS	Female grown up turned towards child next to toy truck
	Aicher & Krampen	Female grown up and child plus teddy bear
	Unknown	Female grown up and child holding hands, arms of two further persons just indicated
	SVI	Four children arranged as performing a circle dance
	PKAW	Silhouette of two children holding hands, one also holding a teddy bear
	González	Hexagonal arrangement of six human figure holding hands
	SN 640 827	Human figure on slide, eye above
	iconos8.es	Hand above head

Discussion

The examples above are only a small selection from the multitude of images representing Kindergarten or Nursery School that can be found as public information symbols in guiding systems worldwide. Especially variants depicting just toys or buildings were left out, as there is no clear relation to the intended message. Internet search mostly delivers pictograms that do not clearly differentiate from Playground or Playroom.

In our research we discovered that test results available are from one country only. Nevertheless these offer valuable insights:

Brugger (1982) inspected 23 pictogram variants for the message Kindergarten using an Appropriateness Ranking Test. Results show some clear tendencies:

Pictograms showing a grown up person focusing on two or more children were ranked in top positions
Variants showing a grown up person with a single child were seen as less appropriate
Representations of several children were preferred to variants with a single child playing
Representations of toys alone were rated as least appropriate

In a follow up Comprehension Test conducted in Austria (Brugger, 1983) the three pictograms marked with 1) to 3) were examined: While the variant marked 1) elicited 65 % correct responses, variant 2) reached 49 % and variant 3) 26 % correct responses only. Most responses for variant 3) were related to playground and playing. Testdesign 2) elicited a rather wide range of responses including aspects like family, traffic education, playground, and much more.

Recommendations

Kindergarten

Based on the test results known, we recommend the use of pictogram No 81 of the Austrian Standard ÖNORM A 3011-4 shown above to signify Kindergarten / Nursery School.

Tests of pictograms of referent Kindergarten

Brugger, Ch. (1982): Reihungstest für die Begriffe Bibliothek, Buffet, Kindergarten, Kinderskischule. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated 12/82, Vienna.

Brugger, Ch. (1983): Abschlußbericht über den Verständnistest. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated May 1983, Vienna.