Abstract:
Play has found little, if any acceptance in most of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in Homa Bay Sub County. Observation reveals that parents and ECD Managers/Head teachers appear to pressurize the ECD teachers to undertake academic work as opposed to allowing children learn spontaneously through directed play. The purpose of this study therefore was to determine the influence of directed play on ECDE children’s holistic development. The study employed correlation research design. The target population comprised ECD children, teachers and ECD Managers/Head teachers in Homa Bay Sub County. Out of a target population of twenty thousand (20,000) ECD children, three hundred and seventy seven (377) were selected for the study through proportionate stratified random sampling procedure. Two sets of questionnaires were used to gather information from the Managers/ Head teachers and ECD teachers while an observation checklist was used to establish the presence of directed play materials and their use in learning. Quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Hypothesis was tested by use of Pearson’s Product Moments Correlation Coefficient. The findings of the study showed that directed play activities influenced ECD children’s holistic development. Pearson’s correlation output further noted that directed play enhances holistic development (r=0.228 while p<0.05) indicating a significant relationship between directed play and holistic development. ECD teachers should incorporate Directed Play in their teaching and also get involved in children’s Pretend Play activities. This can be done by the use of child cantered method of teaching, participatory learning or thematic integrated learning approach.
