The impact of teacher-directed and child-directed pretend play on cognitive competence in kindergarten children

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Authors

Gmitrová, V . Department of Education of City Council in Presov, Slovak Republic; and
Gmitrov, G, Pasteur University Hospital, Kosice, Slovak Republic

Publisher

Early Childhood Education Journal, (2003) Vol.30, No. 4, pp. 241 - 246.

Introduction

How does the way pretend play is organised affect pre-school children's cognitive development?

Pretend play has been part of our early development for a very long time and is a well established part of the early childhood curriculum. Now however, pressure to make children academically ready for school, through concentrated and direct teaching of the alphabet, number, colour and other skills, may reduce the time pre-schools can make available for pretend play. This study looked at the contribution of two forms of pretend play to pre-school children's emotional and cognitive development. It involved fifty-one children from two mixed-age classes within one kindergarten in the Slovak Republic.

The researchers found that pretend play had a range of effects. In particular, they identified links between the different ways of organising pretend play and children's emotional and cognitive development. They conclude that it is important for children to experience an appropriate balance and that their findings give support to the continuation of play-based curricula in pre-school programmes.

Keywords
Slovak Republic; Early years; Reception; Foundation; Nursery schools; Play; Cognitive development; Emotional development; Thinking skills; Behaviour; Parents

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction Is pretend play important? Is allowing time for pretend play in pre-schools justified? How can high quality pretend play be organised? How was the study designed? What are the implications for staff, parents and carers? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To find out more about collated digests click here Get Word Reader The impact of teacher-directed and child-directed pretend play on cognitive competence in kindergarten children This digest found in Early years Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later Authors Gmitrová, V . Department of Education of City Council in Presov, Slovak Republic; and Gmitrov, G, Pasteur University Hospital, Kosice, Slovak Republic Publisher Early Childhood Education Journal, (2003) Vol.30, No. 4, pp. 241 - 246. Introduction How does the way pretend play is organised affect pre-school children's cognitive development? Pretend play has been part of our early development for a very long time and is a well established part of the early childhood curriculum. Now however, pressure to make children academically ready for school, through concentrated and direct teaching of the alphabet, number, colour and other skills, may reduce the time pre-schools can make available for pretend play. This study looked at the contribution of two forms of pretend play to pre-school children's emotional and cognitive development. It involved fifty-one children from two mixed-age classes within one kindergarten in the Slovak Republic. The researchers found that pretend play had a range of effects. In particular, they identified links between the different ways of organising pretend play and children's emotional and cognitive development. They conclude that it is important for children to experience an appropriate balance and that their findings give support to the continuation of play-based curricula in pre-school programmes. Keywords Slovak Republic; Early years; Reception; Foundation; Nursery schools; Play; Cognitive development; Emotional development; Thinking skills; Behaviour; Parents