ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of play and play materials on the social development of the preschool children in Kaduna Metropolis. Four objectives with four research questions were stated and three Null hypotheses were raised. Among the objectives were to identify the different kinds of play and play materials available among preschool children in Kaduna Metropolis, and to determine the effects of using and not using free play and play materials on the social development of the preschool children in Kaduna Metropolis. Experimental research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was drawn from Kaduna Metropolis. The population for the study was eight thousand nine hundred and eight (8,908) preschool children in the sixty four (64) registered preschools in Kaduna metropolis. The sample size used for the study was two (2) registered preschools which comprised of sixty (60) preschool children in the Kaduna Metropolis. The researcher used observation method for data collection. A score card consisting often social development indices with five social expressions for each index was used for the observation. Null hypotheses were formulated and tested using Paired Sample t-test Statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed significant difference in the effect of social development of preschool children who used free play and those who did not; also, there was significant difference in the effect of social development of preschool children who had access to play materials and those who did not. Based on the results, some recommendations were given. Among them were: the Government should supervise and monitor these schools (preschools) to see that they are of high social standard with all the necessary facilities. Safe, adequate and appropriate play materials and facilities should be provided for the preschool children by the proprietors of these schools so as to enhance their rapid positive social development. Parents and teachers should limit the amount of restrictions imposed on children during play. They should give children enough time to play and try not to use it as reward for doing a particular activity. They should not force the children to play if they do not want to. It is not play anymore if they are forced; it is more like a chore. It was concluded that play and play materials have positive effect on the social development of preschool children.