Utilization of outdoor play in an enhanced holistic development of the child in early childhood development Education centres in Bomet East sub-county, Kenya

Abstract

Outdoor play activities are important in the early life of the child; they enhance holistic development and creativity which are useful in later life and career choice of the child. Available literature indicated that early childhood development and education (ECDE) teachers perceive outdoor play as a waste of time, yet it was a central aspect as required in the ECDE curriculum in Kenya. The purpose of this study was to investigate the utilization of outdoor play in enhancing holistic development of the child in the ECDE centres in Bomet East Sub-County, Kenya. The objectives were to: establish the different types of outdoor play facilities available; assess the appropriateness of outdoor play facilities; evaluate the roles of the teacher in organizing outdoor play activities; examine the outdoor play activities that pupils’ participate in; identify the challenges ECDE teachers faced during outdoor play activities in Bomet East Sub County. The study utilized Maria Montessori’s theory of play which emphasized that children be moved from being dependent to perform activities independently. Descriptive survey design was employed. A sample of 36 schools was selected through stratified and random sampling methods, with a target population of 36 Head teachers/Deputy head teachers and 36 ECDE teachers, one from each sampled school, who were selected using purposive sampling and simple random sampling techniques respectively giving a total of 72 participants. The data collection tools were; the observation schedule, interview schedule and questionnaire, all administered by the researcher. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data while qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis procedures. Data was presented in tables, figures and narrations, guided by the study variables. The findings revealed that most ECDE centres had no outdoor play equipment, there was inadequate materials. The main roles of the ECDE teachers included: planning, supervising and ensuring full participation among children. Children participated in guided outdoor play activities daily during midmorning besides running around the field. Challenges faced include: lack of adequate play facilities and materials, interference among other learners. The study recommended all ECDE stakeholders to pull efforts together to provide for adequate and relevant outdoor play equipment and materials for holistic development and a research be done on perception of teachers on how parents can enhance outdoor play activities. The beneficiaries of this study include the teachers at the early childhood education in applying outdoor play in an enhanced holistic development, preschool administration in assessing the importance of children outdoor play and hence provide adequate facilities for play, curriculum developers in evaluating the curriculum and putting emphasis on children’s outdoor play and development of play materials, ECDE teacher training institutes in training teachers on the importance of children outdoor play and holistic development and Teachers may also benefit from this study as the findings may call for in service course to train them on different types of outdoor play that promote holistic development among ECDE children and to formulate efficient strategies and worthwhile approaches to make learning through play more comprehensive and retentive.