An Investigation Of The Effect Of Puzzles On Preschoolers’ Developmental Areas

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of puzzles on preschoolers’ developmental areas. Two classes were chosen randomly among all the classes at an elementary school: one class (with 14 children) as the control group and one as the experimental group (again with 14 children). The data was collected by means of a ‘Demographic Information Form’ and a ‘Preschool Developmental Evaluation Form’ that measures children´s developmental characteristics. Since the children’s scores in ‘Preschool Developmental Evaluation Form’ did not show normal distribution, Mann-Whitney U Test was used to analyze the data. We could not find any significant difference between the pretest and posttest mean scores in both groups. However, the experimental group’s post-test mean scores were found to be higher than mean posttest scores of children in the control group. These results suggest that puzzles as instructional materials can be effective in supporting children’s developmental areas.

Full text

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NERIMANARAL1,FIGENGÜRSOY1,MÜNEVVERCANYAªAR2
Theaimofthisstudywastoinvestigatetheeffectofpuzzles
onpreschoolers developmentalareas. Twoclasses were
chosenrandomly amongall theclasses atan elementary
school:oneclass(with14children)asthecontrolgroupand
oneastheexperimentalgroup(againwith14children).The
datawascollectedbymeansofaDemographicInformation
Form and a Preschool Developmental Evaluation Form
that measures children´s developmental characteristics.
Since the childrens scores in Preschool Developmental
EvaluationFormdid notshow normaldistribution,Mann
WhitneyUTestwasusedtoanalyzethedata.Wecouldnot
find any significant difference between the pretest and
posttest mean scores in both groups. However, the
experimentalgroupsposttestmeanscoreswerefoundto
be higher than mean posttest scores of children in the
control group. These results suggest that puzzles as
instructional materials can be effective in supporting
childrensdevelopmentalareas.
The most important educational materials at preschool
educational institutions and home environment are plays
andplaymaterials.GlassyandRomano(2003)statedthat
playandplaymaterialshavebuiltasignificantbridgeover
children and their communication with their families and
other individuals. Children identify and evaluate what is
happeningintheirsurroundingand outsideworld through
themediumofplaymaterials.Playmaterialsarethemost
valuable means for stimulating intelligence, senses and
emotions;anddevelopingtheimaginationandcreativityof
thechild,aswellassupportingphysical,spiritualandsocial
development.Playmaterials,educationalmaterialsprovide
childs learning through playing and accordingly helping
them form some concepts and understand objects and
eventsinabetterway(Aral,Kandır,andCanYaşar,2002;
Daoust,2007;OğuzkanandAvcı,2000).
Puzzles which are regarded as an educational material,
support learning through playing; at the same time they
makeapositivecontributiontothedevelopmentofmental
skills such as perception, recollection, resolution, making
research,comparing,forming connections,watchingover
fordetails,visualdistinction,envisioning,problemsolving,
critical thinking, analysis, partwhole relationship,
concentration, and observation (Aral, Kandır, and Can
Yaºar,2002;Arslan,2000;Chia,2008;ÇelikandKök,2007;
DodgeandColker,1995).
Whilechildrenarecompletingthepuzzlesindividuallythey
obtainsomeskillssuchas;followingthepuzzleinstructions,
carryingouttheactivityforacertaintimeandconcentration.
Whereas group work puzzles allow children interact with
each other and give them opportunities to do the puzzle
AnkaraUniversity1,AfyonKocatepeUniversity2,Turkey
cooperatively thus puzzles provide important attainments
for their social development. Children doing the puzzle,
joining the similar pieces together or trying to group the
puzzle pieces according to their characteristics; ask
questionsandlearn new anddifferentwords as theyare
listeningto explanationcarefully.Theseexperienceshelp
childrendevelopageappropriatevocabulary,startmaking
grammaticalsentences,expressthemselvesinafluentand
meaningfulway.Besideschildrenfeelthejoyandhappiness
ofachievingataskwhiledealingwiththepuzzle;therefore
theypresenttheiremotionsopenly(AtalayandAral,2001;
DodgeandColker,1995;Hurwitz,2003;Oğuzkan,Tezcan,
Tür,andDemiral, 1992).Conducted studiesalsoshowed
that plays provided significant contribution to childs
creativity (Chia, 2008), socialemotional development
(Glassy and Romano, 2003; GloverGagnon and Nagle,
2004), physical development (Isenberg and Quisenberry,
2002), cognitive and language development (Owen
BlakemoreandCenters,2005).
Puzzles are effective instructional materials through
supporting childrens developmental areas (cognitive,
language,psychomotor,socialandemotionaldevelopment),
their creativity, interests and needs, and providing their
learning while entertaining them (Atalay and Aral, 2001;
Avcı,1999; Sull,2006).Therefore,educatorsandparents
havetounderstandtheimportanceofpuzzlesinchildrens
developmentandtheireducationandtheyaresupposedto
presentpuzzlestothechildaseducationalmaterials.From
thispointofviewthisstudyintendstoinvestigatetheeffect
of puzzle prototype activities on preschoolers
developmental areas (cognitive, language, psychomotor,
socialandemotionaldevelopment).
Thedesignoftheresearch
In this study experimental design with pretest, posttest
controlgroupwasused.
Participants
Randomlychosenchildrenwhoshownormaldevelopmental
characteristicsfrom nurseryclasses ofprimary schoolsin
Ankaracitycenter during20082009academicyearstook
partinthisstudy.Amongtherandomlypickedschools,two
classeswerechosen ascontrol andexperimentalgroups
usingrandomsamplingmethods.Samplingconsistsof28
children,14ofwhichwereincludedincontrolgroupandthe
other14were includedinexperimental group.Themean
agesofthechildreninvolvedinthestudywere64.21months
fortheexperimentalgroupand63.57monthsforthecontrol
group.Itwasfoundthat50.0%ofthechildrenincludedin
thetest groupwere female,50.0%male, whilein control
group,42.9%was femaleand57.1% male.35.7%of the
childreninthetestgroupand57.1%ofthechildrenincontrol
groupwere firstchild while42.9 %was thefirst childand
themajorityofthechildren(test:71.5%,control:57.2%)had
twosiblings. Itwasdeterminedthat57.2% ofthemothers
ofthechildrenincludedinthetestgroupand64.3%ofthose
www.journals.cz
VOLUME4,2011
■ UDC: 37.04 ■ Preschool education ■ Developmental areas
(cognitive, language, psychomotor, social and emotional
development) ■Puzzle

21
ofthechildreninthecontrolgroupweregraduatesofahigh
school;42.9%ofthefathersofthechildreninthetestand
57.2% of those of the children in the control group were
graduatesofauniversity.
Datacollectioninstruments
In this research Demographic Information Form and
PreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluationFormwereused.
DemographicInformation Form:Such itemsas thechilds
birthday,gender,andnumberof siblings,birth order,and
parents educational status were given in General
InformationForm.GeneralInformationFormswerefilledin
byparents.
PreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluationForm:Thisscalewas
developedby theresearchers usingMinistry ofEducation
PreschoolEducationProgramfor3672montholds(M.E.B.,
2006)and wasfurther refineddependingonfield experts
opinions and valid suggestions as forms. In Preschool
Developmental Evaluation Form for 6 yearolds five sub
dimensions were included; psychomotor development,
socialemotional development, language development,
cognitivedevelopment, andselfcareskills.Thisformwas
developedasthreepointLikert;cando itindependently,
candoitwithhelp,andcantdoityet.ItemsonPreschool
DevelopmentalEvaluationFormaregraded2,1,0andtotal
grades are calculated for each subdimension for
psychomotordevelopment,socialemotionaldevelopment,
language development, cognitive development, and self
care skills. Developmental areas in Preschool
DevelopmentalEvaluationFormareevaluatedaccordingto
totalpointscalculated.PreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluation
Formwasfilledinbyparents.
Thepuzzlesandeducationprogram
According to the yearly plan, puzzle prototypes were
preparedpayingattentiontoselfrecognition,myschool,my
familyandhome, emotions,Ataturk, socialrules,animals
aroundus,seaanimals,changesaroundusandcolors.In
paralleltothegoalsandattainmentsmentionedintheyearly
plan,an educationalprogramwaseventuallyprepared.In
theplan,thereareplaysthatcanbeplayedprogressively.
Procedures
Asapretest PreschoolDevelopmental EvaluationForm
was given before puzzle prototype treatment was
administeredtokindergartenchildrenincontrolgroupand
experiment group who showed normal development
characteristics. After the pretest was applied, with
experimental group 10 puzzle prototypes developed to
handledifferentthemesthatwereintegratedintoeducation
paralleltoyearly curriculumwereused twodays aweek,
oneclasshouraday45minutesforfiveweeks.Afterpuzzle
prototype was applied, as a posttest Preschool
Developmental EvaluationFormwas given to parentsof
bothcontrolandexperimentalgroupchildren.
Dataanalysis
ShapiroWilk Test was used to investigate whether the
scoreschildrengotonPreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluation
Formshowednormal distributionornot. Whenresultsof
ShapiroWilkTestwerestudied,itwasobservedthatscores
childrenincontrolandexperimentalgroupgotfrompretest
and posttest Preschool Developmental Evaluation Form
didnt show normal distribution. For this reason, whether
there was a difference in average scores of pretest and
posttest of children in control and experimental group
MannWhitney U test, nonparametric one was used
(Büyüköztürk,2009).
Theresultofthestudycarriedouttodeterminetheeffects
of puzzle prototypes activities on preschoolers
developmental areas (cognitive, language, psychomotor,
social and emotional development) were given and
discussedbelow.
Table1showsthattherewasnosignificantdifferencefound
between the experimental and control group children
accordingtotheirpretestscoresfromcognitivedevelopment
(U=90, p>.05), language development (U=77.5, p>.05),
socialemotionaldevelopment(U=91,p>.05),psychomotor
development(U=94,p>.05)areasandselfcareskills(U=82,
p>.05)inPreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluation Form.This
findingshowsthat childrenin bothgroupswere similarin
termsofPreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluationForm.
Table2showsthattherewasnosignificantdifferencefound
between the experimental and control group children
according to their posttest scores taken from cognitive
development(U=74,p>.05),languagedevelopment(U=83,
p>.05), socialemotional development (U=76.5, p>.05),
psychomotor development (U=77.5, p>.05) areas and
selfcareskills (U=87,p>.05) inPreschoolDevelopmental
EvaluationForm.However, experimentalgroupchildrens
meanscoresofPreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluationForm
were found out to be higher than those of control group
children.
Puzzles,whicharecategorizedaseducationaltoys,support
learningbyplayingandatthesametimehelp toimprove
childrenscertainskills suchas perception,remembering,
analysis, envisioning, problem solving, critical thinking,
establishing partwhole relationship, concentration and
observation(Aral,Kandır,andCanYaşar, 2002;Demiral,
1987;DodgeandColker,1995;SpodekandSaracho,2005)
ANINVESTIGATIONOFTHEEFFECTOFPUZZLESONPRESCHOOLERSDEVELOPMENTALAREAS
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Table1:MannWhitneyUTestaccordingthepretestscoresofchildreninboththeexperimentalgroupandthecontrolgrouptakenfrom
PreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluationForm
PreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluationForm Groups N Med. Min. Max. sd Meanrank U p
Cognitivedevelopment Experimental 14 31,5 33 17 41 8,2 15,1 90 0,712
Control 14 31,4 31,5 10 43 7,9 13,9
Languagedevelopment Experimental 14 21,6 24,5 7 28 6,6 16 77,5 0,344
Control 14 20,9 20 15 28 4,6 13
Socialemotionaldevelopment Experimental 14 23,4 24 10 28 5 15 91 0,746
Control 14 22,6 25 8 28 5,7 14
Psychomotordevelopment Experimental 14 52,9 54,5 39 64 8,2 14,8 94 0,854
Control 14 52,9 54,5 35 62 7,1 14,2
Selfcareskills Experimental 14 24,6 25 16 28 2,8 15,6 82 0,449
Control 14 23,9 24,5 17 28 3 13,4
Source:Author
X

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ANINVESTIGATIONOFTHEEFFECTOFPUZZLESONPRESCHOOLERSDEVELOPMENTALAREAS
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togetherwithfacilitatingcooperationamongpeersduringa
groupworkonpuzzlesandfosteringexpressivelanguage
(AtalayandAral,2001;DodgeandColker,1995;Oğuzkan,
Tezcan, Tür, and Demiral, 1992) while at the same time
helpingtothe improvement insomesocial skills suchas
commitment to the task, playing with peers, sharing,
solidarity, cooperation, waiting ones turn and obedience
and supporting children in terms of enhancing their
independenceandselfconfidence,obediencetothewritten
rules,being respectfultoothersandlisteningtotheother
party (Oğuzkan and Avcı, 2000). Moreover children are
benefitedfromtheopportunitytoexpresstheirfeelingssuch
asjoy,anger,shockorfrustrationinavarietyofcontextsas
they play with educational toys as they are regarded as
mentally healthy as well as having necessary skills in
expressingtheiremotionsinanappropriatemanneratother
contexts.Environmentandmaterialsprovidedtothechildren
areeffectivein theiruse ofhandand fingermusclesand
skillssuchashandeyecoordination(Chia,2008;Hohmann
andWeikart,1995;OğuzkanandAvcı,2000).
Isenberg and Quisenberry (2002) stated that toys
addressingchildrenspsychomotordevelopmenthadmore
ofanimpactonthesupportoftheirhandeyecoordination
togetherwithgrossandfinemuscledevelopment.Selfcare
skills which can be named as life skills include decision
making,problemsolving,creativethinking,criticalthinking,
selfawareness, effective communication, intrapersonal
relations, empathy, management of stress and emotions
(Dunn and Arbuckle, 2003; Ferrari, Houge, and Scheer,
2004) and it was reported that educational toys can be
effectiveinthedevelopmentoftheseskills.Inlinewiththis
issue,Taylor, MorrisandRogers(1997)claimedthattoys
supported childrens language, psychomotor, social and
emotionaldevelopment.
Allinall,itcanbesuggestedthatpuzzleprototypeshavea
significant effect on fostering childrens cognitive, social
emotionalandpsychomotordevelopmentalareas.Inorder
toobservethepredictedeffectinchildren,aspecifiedtime
lengthisaprerequisite.Withinthiscontext,onecanclaim
that the planned time period for the puzzle prototype
educationalprogramtofosterthechildrensdevelopmental
areas (cognitive, language, psychomotor, social and
emotionaldevelopment)isnotsufficient.
Puzzlesare effectualeducationalmaterialswhichsupport
childrens cognitive, language, psychomotor, social and
emotional developmental areas while fostering their
creativityand selfcareskillsaswell asprovidinglearning
during playing with them. Therefore, use of puzzles by
practitionersandparentstosupportchildrensdevelopment
andtheiracademicskillsisimportant.Inthelightoffindings,
seminars and inservice training sessions regarding the
utilizationofpuzzlesaseducationaltoyscanbeorganized.
Also,educationalpolicies canbe adoptedaddressingthe
useofpuzzlesaseducationalmaterials atearlychildhood
centers.
This study was formerly carried out as a project by Anıl
PackagingandMaterialsCo.Ltd.,Ankara/Turkeyunderthe
terms of Support for Industrial Research Development
ProjectsProgram(3070215)ofTurkishInstituteofScientific
andTechnologicalResearch(TUBITAK).Projectmanager
IlkemGök, ilkem@anilambalaj.com.tr.Itwaspresentedat
the European Academic Conference, June 67, 2011,
Barcelona/Spain.
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Table2:MannWhitneyUTestaccordingtheposttestscoresofchildreninboththeexperimentalgroupandthecontrolgrouptakenfromPreschoolDevelopmental
EvaluationForm
PreschoolDevelopmentalEvaluationForm Groups N Med. Min. Max. sd Meanrank U p
Cognitivedevelopment Experimental 14 36,3 37 28 44 4,9 16,2 74 0,268
Control 14 33,3 34,5 19 44 6,7 12,8
Languagedevelopment Experimental 14 23,3 24 12 28 4,3 15,6 83 0,488
Control 14 22,9 24 18 28 3,3 13,4
Socialemotionaldevelopment Experimental 14 25,8 28 18 28 3,1 16 76,5 0,303
Control 14 24,6 26,5 15 28 4,1 13
Psychomotordevelopment Experimental 14 58,5 58,5 53 64 3,7 16 77,5 0,343
Control 14 56,7 56,5 49 64 4,3 13
Selfcareskills Experimental 14 25,4 25 21 28 1,7 15,3 87 0,606
Control 14 25,2 25 23 28 1,6 13,7
Source:Author
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23
ANINVESTIGATIONOFTHEEFFECTOFPUZZLESONPRESCHOOLERSDEVELOPMENTALAREAS
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