Contemporary Foreign Approaches to Assessment of Preschool Children's Play Activity: a Review of Selected Methods

Abstract

In contemporary foreign literature the concept of children's play is described through the prism of various theories (psychoanalysis, theory of motivational modulation, metacommunicative theory, cognitive theories, etc.). On the basis of these theories a number of diagnostic tools have been developed to assess the play of preschoolers. The article presents an overview of the most famous of them: Revised Knox Preschool Play Scale (RKPPS), The Child-Initiated Pretend Play Assessment (ChIPPA), Test of Playfulness (ToP). Each of these methods assesses specific components of children's play according to the age norms. The practical application of the methods considered in the article is largely based on the ideas of occupational therapy and focuses primarily on the rehabilitation of preschoolers with disabilities as well as on solving other therapeutic challenges.