The Relationship Between Russian Kindergarteners’ Play and Executive Functions: Validating the Play Observed Behaviors Scale

Abstract

BackgroundYoung children’s play is theorized to develop executive functions, skills strongly predictive of many later advantages. The current study sought to validate a practicably short play behavior survey for kindergarten teachers (N = 18) and compare the reported behaviors to the executive functions (EFs) of their 443 Russian kindergarteners (Mage = 78.6 months; SD = 4.04).Research FindingsThe factor model with satisfactory construct validity and internal consistency included three factors: leadership, play preferences and rule conformity. Analyses provide partial support for Vygotsky’s theory that play supports EF development, but particular behaviors were related to different EF components. However, kindergarteners exhibiting more leadership, preferences and conformity overall rated higher on most EF components.Practice and PolicyThese findings do not support the theory that play skills improve unidirectionally with age and EFs, suggesting particular profiles of types of players and complex changes with age. The play behavior survey may be a practicable way to trace different profiles across the early years.

Pretend play as the space for development of self-regulation: cultural-historical perspective

“…Several studies report that self-regulation skills are often learned through high-quality pretend play (Berk and Meyers, 2013). Veraksa et al (2022), exploring the relationships between play and executive functions, point out that play is one of the child's main forms of activity, where he or she masters new forms of behavior, learns to interact with others, and develops imagination and self-regulation skills. A recent longitudinal study from Australia (Colliver et al, 2022) confirmed that the time spent in free, unstructured play at ages 2-3 and 4-5 years predicted self-regulation abilities 2 years later.…”