Free play observation in children aged 3 and 5

INTRODUCTION Background: Free Play observation is a most valuable chance to understand children behaviour. During free play, children showed their typical range of activity, the cultural influences , the social skills and the capacity to solve a quarrel . In this context the teacher behaviour should be an “educational care” on different way: • To support and to encourage the play and, in particularly, the risk – adventure play . • The setting (space, time, tools, toys) which is organize for the play situation . • The adult behaviour during the play time . Objectives: To observe children aged 3 and 5 during free play time at school and correlate it with the preceding indicator showed at the end of background point. Description: one hundred children (46 aged 3 and 54 aged 5) were observed in six different municipal infancy school in Modena city (North Italy ). Corresponding author: Dr. Ceciliani Andrea1, Dr. Bortolotti Alessandro2, Prof. Farnè Roberto1 METHODS The study used ecological observation method , based on the ethnographic technique to characterize a qualitative research in a grounded approach . Observation were realized by digital cameras used at the same time by two researchers. Three observations were realized in each infancy school for an amount of 15h of registration. Observation data were collected by a check list extrapolate from POS® (Rubin HK, 1981). Descriptive statically analysis were based on percentage manifestation of children play behaviour. ISTITUTIONS 1 Faculty of exercise and sport sciences University of Bologna – Department of Education 2 Faculty of formation sciences University of Bologna – Department of Education RESULTS Results open interesting questions about different plan of analysis: children movement behaviours, gender differences, teacher behaviours and social interaction (children-children and children-teacher), play variability compared with presence-absence of the tool and toys. CONCLUSION Teacher behaviour, available time and setting, presence-absence of toil, can be limit and influence free expression in children play. In particularly the tendency to protect from danger the children assume exaggerated behaviour in teacher which confined free play expression in a limited and controlled possibility. In this situation children cannot improve their self-government, independence and, on time, responsibility.