APPLICATION OF PLAY WAY METHOD IN THE COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESCHOOL CHILD

ABSTRACT

This study investigate the application of play way method in the cognitive and social development of the pre-school child. The objective of the study was to ascertain the effect of play on the cognitive and social development of the pre-school child. A descriptive survey design was used in the study. The population of the study consist of 81 private pre- school in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State, a sample size of 10 schools were randomly selected. The instrument was a structured questionnaires containing 10 items which was used to elicit response from respondents, the instrument was validated by experts at the Institute of Education University of Benin. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research question while independent simple t-est at 0.05 level of significance was used for testing the hypotheses. Findings of the study revealed that play enhances the cognitive and social development of the pre-school. The findings also showed that there was no significant difference in the application of play in the cognitive and social development of the per-school child based on sex. Based on findings, the researcher concluded that play enhances the cognitive and social development of the pre-school child. The findings also revealed that there is no significant difference in the application of play in enhancing the cognitive and social development of the pre-school child based on sex. The researcher therefore recommended that curriculum planner should incorporate play into the National curriculum. The researcher also recommended that early childhood educators should be trained and encouraged to use play way method as a teaching strategy.