An Investigation of the Choices of Play Activities Made by Nursery School Children in a Free Play Situation

The purpose of the present study was to explore the manner in which children participate in activities during indoor free play in the University of Tennessee Nursery School. This study attempted to discover activities children choose from the variety offered, and the relative degree of interest shown in the chosen activities. The amount of time spent in onlooker and unoccupied behavior was also investigated.

It was hypothesized that: (1) there is no significant difference in the amount of time that boys or girls spend in any one activity; (2) there is no significant difference in the amount of time that boys and girls spend in the activities as measured in the Fall and Spring Quarters of the same academic year; (3) there is no difference in the amount of time that boys and girls spend in unoccupied and onlooker behavior; (4) there is no significant difference in the time spent in any one activity as compared with the time spent in any other activity.

Since no criteria were available indicating now much interested behavior is desirable, or can be expected in any one activity, no hypothesis concerning interest and participation was made. However, if one assumes that participation is an indication of interest, the most chosen activity would have the highest percentage of interested participation. Participation was considered in the present study as an indication of interest when certain pre-defined movements, speed of work and verbalizations were observed.