TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................... .ii
APPROVAL ................................................................................................................. iii
DEDICATION ............................................................................................................... iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ................................................................................................. v
DEFINITION OF TERMS ............................................................................................. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. vii
LIST OFT ABLES .......................................................................................................... x
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................. 1
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1
1.0 Background of the study ........................................................................................ 1
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ...................................................................... £
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................. 2
1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ........................................................................... 2
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................... 3
l.6SCOPE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................... 3
1.7SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................ 3
CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................... .4
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................ 4
2.1 IMPORTANCE OF PLAYING TO CHILDREN ................................................... 4
2.1.1 ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ...................................................................... 4
2.1.2 PROBLEM SOL YING ................................................................................... 4
2.1.3 SOCIAL AND LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE ............................................... 5
2.1.4 CONFIDENCE BUILDING ........................................................................... 6
2.2 HINDRANCES TO CHILDREN'S PLAYING ...................................................... 6
CHAPTER THREE ......................................................................................................... 8
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 8
Vll
3.1 DESIGN ................................................................................................................ 8
3.2 STUDY AREA ...................................................................................................... 8
3.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY ...................................................................................... 8
3.4 INSTRUMENTS OF DATA COLLECTION ......................................................... 8
3.5 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE .................................................................. 8
3.6 STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF DATA ............................................................ 9
CHAPTERFOUR ......................................................................................................... 10
FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS ....................................................................... 10
4.1. PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS ................................................................. 10
TABLE 1:PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS ........................................................ 10
TABLE 2:PLA YING INCLUDED IN THE CURRICULUM .................................... 11
TABLE 3:PLAYING IS IMPORTANT TO THE CHILDREN .................................. 12
TABLE 4: IMPORTANCE OF PLAY ....................................................................... 13
TABLE 5: PLAYING HELPS CHILDREN PERFORM WELL ACADEMICALLY 14
TABLE 6: PLAYING HELPS CHILDREN UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE
TAUGHT. ................................................................................................................. 15
TABLE 7: PLAYING MAKES THE CHILDREN LIKE THE ENVIRONMENT OF
THE SCHOOL .......................................................................................................... 16
TABLE 8: CHILDREN WHO PLAY ARE LIKELY TO PERFORM WELL IN
FUTURE ................................................................................................................... 16
TABLE 9: THROUGH PLAYING CHILDREN LEARN HOW TO SOLVE
PROBLEMS .............................................................................................................. 17
TABLE 10: THROUGH PLAYING CHILDREN LEARN TO COMMUNICATE TO
OTHER ..................................................................................................................... 18
TABLE 11: THROUGH PLAYING CHILDREN LEARN HOW TO BE
CONFIDENT ............................................................................................................ 19
TABLE 12: PLAYING HELPS CHILDREN GROWUPHEALTHY ....................... 20
TABLE 13: HOW CHILDREN WHO HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO PLAY
PERFORM IN CLASS .............................................................................................. 20
TABLE 14: BOYS AND GIRLS PLAY TOGETHER ............................................... 22
ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to investigate the importance of playing on the early childhood education in Saramek 'B' primary school, Kericho District, Kenya The specific objectives of the study were to determine the profile of the respondents in regards to: age, gender and academic level, to investigate the importance of playing in regards to academic achievements, problem solving, social and egoistic competence confidence building and health development and to identify the hindrance to children's playing the methods used to data collection were questionnaires to the teachers and focus groups discussions with the parents. The finding indicated that playing had positive effect on the performance of early childhood children, playing helps children learn how to solve problems: it also indicated that children who play learn to be confident and it indicated that lack of enough playing materials was the major hindrance to children play . Government should make sure early childhood centers have enough and strong playing materials before they are licensed. The community and parents should be sensitized about the importance of playing so that they also participate in children's playing activities. Schools should make sure they fulfill what is the curriculum by involving children in playing activities