Differences in Children's Play in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Classes in a Kindergarten

Most of the things children do are learned by playing. Children's play is seen as intrinsically motivated. Active participation in playing allows children to develop different abilities and skills necessary for life in the community. Through playing, a child learns to establish satisfactory relationships with other children and becomes socially competent. The research suggests that there are differences in social competence among children of the same age who attend kindergarten. Learning through playing is one of the ways to acquire social skills, so we were interested in finding out possible differences in children's play in these groups. The aim of the study presented in this paper was to determine whether there were differences, and if so, in which areas of play. For this purpose, a questionnaire was constructed on the basis of what teachers in both groups had observed and recorded considering the different aspects of playing behaviour of children aged 5-7 years. It should determine the way in which children organized play activities and how they participated in them. The areas in focus included the folowing: partnership in play, type of activity, characteristics of play, and communication during play. The obtained results could contribute to determining the difference in children's play in homogeneous and heterogeneous kindergarten classes, giving us better insights into the differences related to children's social skills.