Trends in the play of modern children and their connection with mental development: empirical study

Introduction. Role play is the leading activity of the preschool period, in which the key development takes place. However, the specifics of modern childhood leads to a decrease in the time for the implementation of free play. Therefore, the search for means to support role play is an important task for the scientific community and the education system. The purpose of this study was to identify current trends in the play behavior of preschoolers, as well as to study the relationship of the main indicators of children's mental development with the play behavior and attitudes of their parents to role play. Materials and methods. The study involved 596 children aged 5-6 years and their parents (from 23 years to 51 years). Sociometric status, understanding of emotions, executive functions and nonverbal intelligence were considered as indicators of children’s mental development. Data on children's play behavior and parents' attitudes towards play were obtained using a questionnaire containing three blocks of questions: socio-economic block, questions about the play behavior of preschoolers, questions about parents' attitude to free children's play. Results and discussion. The results of the study indicated a relatively low level of development of the play of modern preschoolers: according to the observations of parents, only every fifth child is deeply immersed in the game plot, about 15% of children do not seek to play at all. The data indicated that most parents do not consider it necessary to allocate enough time for free play. More than 40% of parents consider play as a "useless" activity, and more than 80% give priority to cognitive activities, for example, joint reading. At the same time, significant links of children's play behavior with the sociometric status of a child in a group, the ability to understand emotions, visual working memory, cognitive flexibility, information processing speed and nonverbal intelligence were recorded. Conclusion. The results of the study can be used to develop recommendations to support free play, as well as for scientific purposes to analyze the specifics of modern childhood.