Parental attitudes about play in preschool aged children

Play is a universal and innate disposition that is believed to be one of the most significant components of holistic wellbeing and development during the foundational years of childhood. This quantitative study examined parental attitudes about play in pre- school children aged 4 to 6 years. This study involved 327 parents, with children aged of four to six years not in full- time childcare. A survey was designed specifically for this study due to a lack of pre- existing measures. This study aimed to make a theoretical contribution to the field of early childhood research. It will provide insight into the under-researched area in parent's beliefs. About play it uses a measure called the Parental Play Belief Scale (PPBS) has been designed in order to investigate the two research factors Play Support and Academic Focus. The main finding was that parental belief work associate with the way in which infants and toddlers spent their time. Most of the parent's perceived play to best support early development and, consequently, offered children a large amount of daily time to become involved in freely chosen play. The study also identified that demographic factors, such as parent's age, parent's educational levels, race, religion, marital status were associated with parental attitude. Environment barriers faced by parents, parental attitudes about play support during the fundamental years of 4-6 years old and parental attitude towards academic focus supporting learning and development in the childhood. These findings were discussed in relation to the implications they raise for the role of the parent, early childhood education, parent education, and child development and.