Play and Cognitive Development of Primary School Pupils in Uyo Local Government Area

Abstract

The study examined the influence of play on cognitive development of primary school pupils in Uyo local government area. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. and the population of the study consisted of 10537 pupils in all the public primary schools in Uyo Local Government. A sample sign size of 150 was selected using a simple sampling technique. A structured questionnaire titled Play and Cognitive Development Questionnaire (FCDQ), developed on a four point likert scale was used as instrument of data collection. The instrument was validated by experts in test and measurement and a reliability coefficient index of 0.76 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha statistics. Statistical mean and standard deviation was used in answering research questions while dependent t-test analysis was used in testing the null hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The results indicated that social play, pretence play and associative play significantly influence cognitive development of primary school pupils in Uyo Local Government Area. it was recommended among others that play time should be adequately integrated in the teaching and learning process design for primary school pupils.