Efficiency of Play Therapy in Early Childhood Education

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
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1EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
In this study, the researcher has focused on the efficiency of play therapy for better
functioning of child (McAloney & Stagnitti, 2009). Play Therapy Observational Instrument is
an example of play therapy. Different measuring criteria was developed to measure the
outcome of child functioning, which includes sociometry measure, behavioural measures,
personal anxiety measure and academic measure. Play therapy was considered as a valuable
approach to understand the meaningful and complex activity of a child (Bergen, 2015). The
primary objective of this research paper was to recognize the coexisting legitimacy of Child-
Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA) in relative to the Penn Interactive Peer Play
Scale (PIPPS). The coexisting legitimacy of play therapy in accordance by means of
communal peer play is considered as the important aspect of social capability and socio-
emotional development of the children. Play therapy has been acknowledged worldwide as an
effective approach for developmentally deferred, behaviourally maladapted and abused
children. Hence, the degree of socializing and activity of the children with fellow children’s
are of a great interest for the researcher to observe as a play therapist (Clark, 2014). Social
competence shows the children capacity to adapt or adjust in the social environment. The
major goal of play therapy method in this research learning was to improve the degree of
social competency in children. The major research question generated for this research study
that how a child’s performance in play therapy or play assessment will relate to their social
peer play (McAloney & Stagnitti, 2009).
In order to measure the social competence of children, the researcher in this study
used a standardized approach known as “Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment” (ChIPPA)
to evaluate the capacity of the child using controlled interaction with another tool known as
PIPPS to observe the competency of the children peer play (Kottman, 2014). The researchers
compared the outcome from both the tools to evaluate the competency of child relating to
imaginative play i.e. the child who scored good in imaginative play are similarly competent