Supporting 5-Year-Old Children’s Problem-Solving Skills With Play-Based Activities

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of education program with structured and unstructured plays upon five-year-old pre-school children’s problem-solving skills. The sample of the study comprised of 46 five-year-old children who were enrolled in three different classes of a pre-school in Mentese county of Mu？la city. Pretest-posttest design of experimental research type was conducted. The study had two experimental groups and one control group. Education program with structured plays for the first experimental group and unstructured plays for the second experimental group was carried out for eight weeks. The program that was carried out 3 times a week was scheduled as 24 sections in total with the first and second experimental groups. The routine program was carried out for the control group. In order to explore children’s problem-solving skills, “General Problem-Solving Skills Evaluation Scale” developed by Arslan (2012) was conducted. This scale has 20 problematic situation items that 6-year-old children may face at home or school. The validity and reliability of the scale for 5-year-old children were assessed and the results proved that this scale was convenient for this study. Results of the study show that both of the education programs are efficient for problem-solving skills of 5-year-old children. Yet, it appears that structured plays are more effective in achieving the goal. A considerable decrease is observed in retention test results. Based on the result, recommendations were presented for teachers, parents, and researchers