The Effect of Korean Traditional Outdoor Play on Children's Emotional Intelligence

실외 전래놀이가 유아의 정서지능에 미치는 영향

To examine the effect of traditional outdoor play on children's emotional intelligence, the effectiveness of the traditional outdoor play program was evaluated in the kindergarten. Participants were 44 kindergartners randomly divided into two groups: experimental group and control group. The activities of traditional outdoor play were carried out twice in a week in the experimental group, and only the regular activities of kindergarten program in the control group for 12 consecutive weeks. The data were analyzed by paired t-test, independent t-test. Major findings are as follows: First, the program affected on the children's emotional recognition and expression about the self identity and importance, while there were no significant differences in the children's emotional regulation and self-motivation. Second, traditional outdoor play program affected on the children's emotional recognition and empathy in others, relationship and social skill significantly. These results showed that educational and funny traditional outdoor play contributes to children's emotional intelligence and development.