Play Factor as a Predictor of Resilience Development in the Early Years of Children in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria

Play is life and it is natural to children; it is found to be integral in developing positive psycho-social, emotional as well as intellectual prowess of children. Play as a factor is sine qua non to the development of resilience skills among children in the early years as lifelong learning starts with play upon which further learning is built. Therefore, the study was designed to determine play factor as a predictor of resilience development in the early years of children in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. The study was anchored on the theory of resilience. Two research questions and two hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The two instruments used were teacher-made, titled:
(i) Play and Effectiveness of Play in Development of Resilience in the Early Years for Teachers and (ii) Play and Effectiveness of Play in Development of Resilience in the Early Years for parents where reliability for both was 0.87. Data collected were analyzed using Regression analysis for the research questions and Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to analyze the hypotheses. The findings of the study showed that play positively and significantly predict the development of resilience with Regression, (ß=0.733, t=2.749, P<0.05 while (r =.360, N=131, P<0.05) using PPMC and the extent to which resilience is developed in the early years with Regression (ß=0.392, t=2.470, P<0.05 while (r =.360, N=131, P<0.05) using PPMC.  Based on the findings, it was concluded that play is prerequisite to the development of resilience in children in the early years and therefore, it was recommended that children should be given ample opportunities to play both at home and in the school in order to acquire the resilience skills needed to overcome immediate and future challenges.