Relationship between Play Activity and Cognitive Development in Preschool Children

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between cooperative play and cognitive development in preschool age. The study involved 56 children aged 5—6 years (29 boys and 27 girls) of Moscow kindergartens. The article describes the main parameters of the observations of peer play (indicators of substitution, implementation of plan, play interaction). Analysis of the results revealed the presence of two correlation pleiades. The first one shows significant relationships between a child’s ability to draw up a story and different play aspects associated with the development of the internal action plan and visual thinking (sustainability of play plot, subject substitution, substitution of playing space, organizing character of interaction, level of ideas). The second correlation pleiade centers around the unfolding of the play idea which is linked with the ability to understand emotions of others, with self-regulation of cognitive processes, and with visual memory. The obtained data show the presence of two sources of development in child play: one is associated with visual-imaginative thinking, and the other with partner interaction.