Aspects of Children's Rough-and-Tumble Play during the Outdoor Play and Effects of Gender and Social Competence

바깥놀이에서 나타나는 유아의 거친 신체 놀이 양상 및 관련 변인 분석

The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of the children's rough-and-tumble play, and investigate the differences in rough-and-tumble play according to children's gender and social competence. The subjects were 80 five to six year-old children. The children's behaviors during the outdoor play were observed by a modified version based on the Rough-and-Tumble Play Categories(Humphreys & Smith, 1987). Children's social competence was measured by using the Scale for the Social Competence of Kindergarten(Doh, 1994). The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANCOVA. The results were as follows: Firstly, about 25.6% of outdoor play types was rough-and-tumble play behaviors. Specifically, children's rough-and-tumble play was more 'chasing' behaviors than 'mock-fighting' behaviors. Secondly, boys involved in rough-and-tumble play more often than girls did. In general, boys participated more frequently in various rough-and-tumble play categories, whereas girls involved only in chasing behavior more often. Finally, controlled by sex, children with higher social competence participated more frequently in rough-and-tumble play, which showed statistical significance. In conclusion, children's rough-and-tumble play behaviors were related to the gender and the social competence.