An Exploratory Study of Chinese Parents' Perceptions of Preschool Children's Play

• In Event: Examining Perspectives of Families, Children, and Teachers

Abstract

The current study explores how Chinese parents of 3-6-year-old children enrolled in preschool perceive the value of play. Further, because there are two Chinese words for play - ‘youxi’ and ‘wanshua’, this research also explores the impact of the word choice on the way Chinese parents value the contributions of play to children’s development in preschool. In general, parents showed positive perceptions of play, but the level varied among the learning and developmental outcomes. In terms of word use, when ‘youxi’ was used, play was more often perceived to impart cognitive benefits; when ‘wanshua’ was used, play was viewed as having advantages for physical and emotional development.

Authors

• Di Liu, JiangSu Normal University

• Martha J. Buell, University of Delaware