Creative Use of Play Materials by Preschool Children

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsMarion Sill McDowellThis is a report of a study of the creative use of play materials by fifty preschool children of two to four years of age, carried on in the nursery school of the department of home economics at The Pennsylvania State College.1 The study was made for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not there is a relationship between the sex, the chronological age, and the intelligence quotient of children of this age group and their creative ability as manifest in their use of three play materials—blocks, paints, and clay. Mrs. McDowell is director of the nursery school at The Pennsylvania State College and Miss Howe is supervisor of home economics education at Cedar Crest College, Allentown, Pennsylvania.Sarah Ruth Howe1 This study Rrew out of a previous investigation by McDowell on the “Frequency of Choice of Play Materials by Preschool Children.” (Child Development, December 1937). In the latter, data were presented on the frequency with which preschool children select play materials at their disposal in spontaneous play. In this connection, the use made of toys was mentioned, among other factors, as a desirable subject for further investigation.