Patterns of Play Behaviors and Learning Center Choices Between High Ability and Typical Children

Abstract

There is a dearth of research regarding young children with high intellectual abilities, particularly research involving the direct observation of children in naturalistic settings. The current study examines 2 years of observations of young children (aged 37-71 months; n = 34) at an early childhood facility. The children were observed during the substantial periods of the day in which they were engaged in play at self-selected learning centers. The play was coded on levels of cognitive (non-play, functional, dramatic, constructive, and games with rules) and social (solitary, parallel, associative, and cooperative) play. Overall, the high ability children ( n = 19) spent more time in functional, dramatic, and solitary play behaviors than typical children ( n = 15). The high ability children also spent more time in literacy-based (library and writing) and arts-based (art and music) centers than the typical children. These findings indicate that the high ability children in this study were more likely to select centers independent of their peers.