Effect of participation in physical activity based play festivals on social maturity of children

The aim of this study was to investigate effect of participation in physical activity based play festivals on social development of children.15 children (4-6 years old) who attended in festivals and 15 children from a kindergarten from Tehran city were selected. Vineland Social Maturity Scale was used to measure social development of the subjects. The experimental group attended in 6 festival which were held 6 Fridays sequentially form 10 to 11:30 am. Each festival consisted specific theme however all of them focused on movement, physical activity, group activity and fun. Selected games were mostly innovative and new for the subjects. The games consisted of rainbow parachute games, foam noodle games, messy games with paint and flour, ball games and child and mom games. All festival were performed in a park located in west part of Tehran city. After 6 week, Vineland Social Maturity Scale was filled for both groups. Independent t student test used for data analysis and showed that there was a significant difference between two groups in posttest mean scores (P 0.01). The results indicated children’s participation in physical activity -based play festivals in group situations can promote social maturity of children.