Association of play duration and cognitive development in preschoolers (3-6 years) and school children

Background: The value of play is increasingly recognised, by researchers, for adults as well as children, as the evidence of its relationship with intellectual achievement and emotional well-being keeps increasing. Even-though a lot of studies have found the positive effects of play on all domains of development in children, not many have focussed on the relation between the duration of play and specifically, cognitive development. The objectives of this study were: to determine the association between play duration and cognitive development of pre-school and school children, to find out the optimum play duration in these children for their maximal cognitive development and to assess the relation of play type with different cognitive skills in children aged 3–12 years.

Methods: The parents of the 565 (175 pre-schoolers and 390 school aged) eligible children were interviewed using a internally validated structured proforma to obtain information regarding play duration and other relevant details, followed by cognitive assessment of children using Gessel`s drawing test (GDT) in pre-school children and Raven`s Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) for school children to assess developmental/intelligent quotient (IQ), Vineland social maturity scale (VSMS) for social quotient (SQ) and Strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) for behavioural (social and emotional) problems. The obtained scores were statistically analysed.

Results: Pre-school children (3-6 years): Largest proportion of intellectually superior children playing for average 2-3 hours per day. (x²=42.124, p<0.001) with the largest proportion of intellectually superior children had an average daily play duration of 1-2 hrs in school (x²=34.599, p<0.001), the strength of association being moderate. The median social quotient (SQ) was found to be highest in the intellectually superior group.

School children (6-12 years): Larger number of urban school children were involved in structured indoor and structured outdoor play as well as all varieties of play, while their rural counterparts were more involved in free/unstructured play (χ2 = 30.923, p = <0.001). Children who had an average duration of play at home during school days: 2-3 Hours had the largest proportion of IQ Score: ≥95Th Percentile- Intellectually Superior. As the active screentime duration increased, there was a significant increase in difficulties score (SDQ) (emotional, conduct, attention and peer problems) (χ2=39.268, p=0.029). Also, lesser the active screentime, higher the social quotient (VSMS).  (χ2 = 6.882, p = 0.032).

Conclusion: Pre-school children: Children who played for 1-3 hours per day at home during school days and 3–5 hours during vacation holidays had a higher cognitive score in terms of IQ, SQ and Pro social behaviour and lesser emotional problems. The median IQ Score was highest in the group of children engaged in structured outdoor play for longer durations (1-3 hours), mean social age was highest in children engaged in structured indoor play of 2–3 hours duration. Positive correlation between IQ and SQ and also between SQ and Prosocial score of SDQ and a moderate negative correlation between SDQ: Pro-Social and SDQ: Difficulties Score and between SQ (VSMS) and SDQ: Difficulties score was noted. School children: A significant proportion of children who played for 2-5 hours at home during school days were found to be intellectually superior and above average and those who played for 0.5–1 hour on an average daily during school recess had higher cognitive scores in terms of IQ (intellectually superior).

Dr. Rashmi.N is a Pediatrician with an MBBS and DNB Pediatrics degree, specializing in developmental Pediatrics research. She holds a PhD in Developmental Pediatrics from JSSAHER, Mysore, India. She is working in JSS Medical College, JSSAHER as Associate Professor in Pediatrics and has about 22 years of experience as a Pediatrician. She has 40 publications to her credit and has authored 5 book chapters.