The aspects of play as seen through the play behaviour of four-year old children

Abstract

The objective of this study is to find out about the different play behaviour of four year-old children. The study which is shown in this dissertation tries to present the latest theories on play and relate this relevant information to portraits of children in their real environment. The introduction of this research gives a brief description of the importance of play in early childhood. Different ideas on what play is all about, its benefits, theories, types and so on, are developed in the Review of Literature. The importance of observing young children is discussed in Chapter 3 following the Review of Literature. Following this is a study carried out on a sample of eighteen, four-year-old children. This sample was randomly selected from six schools, one from each region of Malta. Children were observed during free play. The process of this study is explained and consequently the results are analysed and discussed. The conclusions and recommendations reached are based on the analysis of the observation. These are also based on references to studies concerning the play behaviour of the four-year-old child.