The Effect of Story Telling-Based and Play-Based Social Skills Training on Social Skills of Kindergarten Children: An Experimental Study

Abstract

This study was conducted with the purpose of examining the social skills of kindergarten children who participated in story telling-based social skills training and play-based social skills training and with no intervention. The study involved three different groups and a total of 120 children including Experiment-I, Experiment-II, and Control group. The study relied on an experimental design with pretest-posttest-permanence test control group, Experiment-I group participated in story telling-based social skills training called “Ready to Learn” which was developed by Brigman, Lane, and Lane (1994) and adapted to Turkish by Aksoy (2014). Experiment-II group participated in play-based social skills training called “Fun FRIENDS” which was developed by Barrett (2007a, 2007b) and adapted to Turkish by Aksoy (2014). Both “story telling-based social skills training” and “play-based social skills training” were implemented over twelve weeks during two-hour sessions weekly. No intervention was made for children in the Control group. In the study, the “Social Skills Assessment Scale-Teacher Form” developed for preschool children by Aksoy (2014), was used in order to evaluate children’s social skills. As a result of the current study, children who participated in story telling-based social skills training were found to be at a significantly higher level in dimensions of “communication”, “adaptation”, “prosocial behaviours” and in terms of total social skills compared to children who haven’t had any intervention. Children who participated in play-based social skills training were detected to be at a significantly higher level in dimensions of “communication”, “adaptation”, “self-control”, “prosocial behaviours”, “assertiveness” and in terms of total social skills compared to children who haven’t had any intervention. Accordingly, suggestions were presented for developing children’s social skills through systematic and organized trainings and for improving teachers’ knowledge and experience on preparing and practicing qualified activities equipped with enriched content to support social skills.