ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to investigate the importance of playing on the early childhood education in Masinga District, Kenya The specific objectives of the study were to determine the profile of the respondents in regards to: age, gender and academic level, to investigate the importance of playing in regards to academic achievements, problem solving, social and egoistic competence confidence building and health development artd to identify the hindrance to children's playing the methods used to data collection were questionnaires to the teachers and focus groups discussions with the parents. The finding indicated that playing had positive effect on the performance of early childhood children, playing helps children leam how to solve problems: it also indicated that children who play leam to be confident and it indicated that lack of enough playing materials was the major hindrance to children play . Govemment should make sure early childhood centers have enough and strong playing materials before they are licensed. The community and parents should be sensitized about the importance of playing so that they also participate in children's playing activities. Schools should make sure they fulfill what is. the curriculum by involving children in playing activities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ................................................................................................................ ii

APPROVAL ...................................................................................................................... .iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ..................................................................................................... v

DEFINITION OF TERMS ................................................................................................. vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. vii

LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. ix

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... .ix

CHAPTER ONE:GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................... !

1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1

1.0 Background ofthe study ................................................................................................ l

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ............................................................................. 2

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................ 2

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY .................................................................................. 2

·1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................ : .................................................. 3

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY .............................................................................................. 3

1. 7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .............................................................................. 3

CHAPTER TWO:LITERA TURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 5

2.1 IMPORTANCE OF PLAYING TO CHILDREN ......................................................... 5

2.1.1 ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ................................................................................. 5

2.1.2 PROBLEM SOLVING ............................................................................................... 5

2.1.3 SOCIAL AND LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE ......................................................... 6

2.1.4 CONFIDENCE BUILDING ....................................................................................... 7

2.2 HINDRANCES TO CHILDREN'S PLAYING ............................................................ 7

CHAPTER THREE:RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................... 9

3.1 DESIGN ......................................................................................................................... 9

3.2 STUDY AREA .............................................................................................................. 9

ll

3.3 SCOPE OF THE STUD¥ .............................................................................................. 9

3.4 INSTRUMENTS OF DATA COLLECTION ............................................................... 9

3.5 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE ......................................................................... 9

3.6 STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF DATA ................................................................ 10

CHAPTER FOUR:DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 11

4.1. PROFILE OF THERESPONDENTS ........................................................................ 11

CHAPTER FIVE:SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....... .24

5.1 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 24

5.2 RECOMMENDA TIONS ............................................................................................. 25

5.3 AREAS FOR FURTHER STUDIES ........................................................................... 25

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 26

APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 29

APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................ 29