THE ROLE OF PLAY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

Play among preschool children Is a highly well researched phenomenon. The present study aimed to find out relationship of play In child development. A series of three p ilot studies were carried out to develop (a ) an insight In to the p lay behaviour of preschool chlldren- study I, (b) try-out the play material, observational schedule and play activiUes- study 2, and (c) to d evelop a scale for the measurement of play behaviour of pre school chlldren- study 3. These three observational studies were carried out on children at day care centre. tn the family Situation and a lso In play groups, s pecially created for the purpose. Play behaviour was rated on a five point rating scale. Inter-rater reliability was established the observational schedule tried out In study 2 had 25 dimensions of play b ehaviour. In the pilot study 3, the observational schedule was tried-out on 40 children of preschool age children. As a result of the Factor analysis 10 dimens ions out of the 25 dimensions were retained in the final scale. These 10 dimension had the factor loading of higher than. 70 on the factor of playfulness. Internal conSistency was computed by Cronbach's Alpha coeffiCient. which was .94 for the pilot study and .98 for the ma in study. The objective of the main study was to find out the relationsh ip of Intell ectual, social and emotional development and home en vironment of children with playfulness. The main study was conducted on 40 children , 20 boys, 20 girls age ranging between 42-59 months, mean age 49.60 months and SD 4.02. Play behaviour was observed during 5 sessions of free play, of 90 minutes each, on (v II) 4 Nevertheless, there are researchers who have de fin ed the concept obj ectively and within s pecific theoretical frame-work. Generally play Is defined by emphasizing what the play Is not. rather than. what It Is. A very popular dimension of defining play Is to contrast It from work. Victorian society and Industry needed to define play and leisure as rare, abnormal activities that were opposite of normal activities. In middle ages children were seen as miniature adults, inferior human beings. having no childhood. Whenever physically possible. earliest attempts were made to tntegrate them tnto adult life. Usually play Is seen as something children do and adults do not. It gives the Impression that work cannot be playful. Whereas. In reality sometimes work may be playful and play can be experienced as work. Anthropologists have often found tha t the categorical distinction of work and play (labour and leisure) Is a characteristic of Industrialized societies and is absent In non-IndustrialIzed cultures (Schwartzman. 1978). The traditional attitude towards play Is that It Is some thing childish and non serious. Whereas. work Is considered the most acceptable way for a person to demonstrate his worth (Hurlock. 1972). Generally. work and play are conSidered. two extremes of a pole that cannot overlap each other. Work with some element of play It would not be authentic work. Simila rly If play is contaminated by some criteria set for work. will loose Its charm and worth. Klinger (1971) emphasized that play is the form of behaviour that is separdled from the usual motivational context 5 of the work, learning or problem solving. It Is the behaviour other than consummatory behaviour, instrumental behaviour, competition with a s tandard of excellen ce, socially prescribed ins tltutiona llzed or ritual behaviour. A cricket match with strong motivation to win should be excluded from the category of play, whereas. the act of memorising ABC in rhyme, enjoying a T. V. programme, learning many things while watching a cartoon on video, these can be categorized as play. When the activity is directed towards an end It would not remain play. The content of behaviour by Itself should not be categorized as play or work. Rather, it Is the attitude and the spirit that makes the segment of behaviour play or work. Fingarette (1969) questioned the high cultural value traditionally attached to work and low cultural value attached to leisure. The argument was based on the evidences that social esteem Is no longer limited to those who work hard but Is also given to those who play hard. The old sayings and proverbs conveying that playing is waste of time, It spoils the life or it will force you to repent, are loosing their Validity and popularity. The work and play should not be segregated categorically. Both aspect of human life pattern are important for a healthy growth and well beIng of the personality, Play and work both are equally valuable for the healthy growth of the personality. A balanced ratio of play and work is essential for happy living. A categorical distinction between play and work is neither possible nor desirable.