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Effects of a Play Program on Creative Thinking of Preschool Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Maite Garaigordobil  and
Laura Berrueco
Maite Garaigordobil*
Affiliation:
Universidad del País Vasco (Spain)
Laura Berrueco
Affiliation:
Universidad del País Vasco (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Maite Garaigordobil. Facultad de Psicología. Universidad del País Vasco. Avda. de Tolosa 70. 20018 Donostia (Spain). E-mail: maite.garaigordobil@ehu.es
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a play program in the creative thinking of preschool children. The study used a repeated measures experimental pretest-posttest design with control groups. The sample included 86 participants aged 5 to 6 years (53 experimental and 33 control participants). Before and after administering the program, two evaluation instruments were applied: The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1990) and Behaviors and Traits of Creative Personality Scale (Garaigordobil & Berrueco, 2007). The program consisted of a weekly 75-minute play session throughout the school year. ANOVA results showed that the program significantly increased the verbal creativity (fluency, flexibility, originality), graphic creativity (elaboration, fluency, originality), and behaviors and traits of creative personality. In the pretest phase, there were no differences in the creativity of boys and girls, and the program stimulated a similar level of change in both sexes. The discussion focuses on the importance of implementing creative programs with preschool children.

El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar los efectos de un programa de juego en la creatividad infantil. Se utilizó un diseño experimental de medidas repetidas pretest-postest con grupos de control. La muestra se configuró con 86 participantes de 5 a 6 años (53 experimentales y 33 control). Antes y después de la intervención se aplicaron 2 instrumentos de evaluación: El Test de Pensamiento Creativo de Torrance (Torrance, 1990) y La Escala de Conductas y Rasgos de Personalidad Creadora (Garaigordobil & Berrueco, 2007). El programa consistió en una sesión de juego semanal de 75 minutos de duración durante un curso escolar. Los resultados del ANOVA mostraron que el programa incrementó significativamente la creatividad verbal (fluidez, flexibilidad, originalidad), la creatividad gráfica (elaboración, fluidez, originalidad), así como las conductas y rasgos de personalidad creadora. En la fase pretest no había diferencias en la creatividad de niños y niñas, y el programa estimuló un nivel de cambio similar en ambos sexos. La discusión se centra en la importancia de implementar programas de creatividad con niños de edad preescolar.

Keywords

program evaluationplaycreativitychildhoodevaluación de programasjuegocreatividadinfancia
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , November 2011 , pp. 608 - 618
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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