This study was conducted with 157 mothers with children aged 3 to 5 who were living in attending a daycare center in J city to examine the correlation and influence between mothers' play beliefs and play participation on children's play performance and happiness. Specifically, we sought to answer the following: (1) Do mothers' play beliefs, children's playfulness, and infant happiness differ depending on the children's background variables? (2) What correlations and influences do mothers' play beliefs and the degree of play participation have on children's play performance? (3) What is the relationship between mothers' play beliefs, playfulness of children, and happiness of children? The data collection period was about two weeks from the fourth week of September to the first week of October 2018. For the collected data, t-test, Pearson's correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and one-way ANOVA were performed using the SPSS 22.0 program. The research results are as follows. First, according to the background variables of the children, the mother's play beliefs, the infant's playfulness, and the infant's happiness were different. The play support beliefs, there was no significant difference in the age of young children but mothers of 5-year-old children showed that they supported learning-centered beliefs more, and the level of play performance and happiness of 5-year-olds was the highest. According to the number of children, the two-child and multi-child parent groups supported the play support belief, and the one-child parents supported the learning support belief, and the children's playfulness and happiness were found to be highest in the order of multiple children, two children, and one child. Second, play support belief showed a significant correlation with play participation and children's play performance. The higher the mother's play support belief was, the higher the play participation rate and the higher the infant's playfulness were. Conversely, the more mothers held the learning-centered belief, the lower the play participation rate was. Third, the higher the mother's belief in play support, the higher the level of playfulness of children, and the level of playfulness were, the higher the happiness of children was. This study is meaningful in recognizing the importance of parents having the correct perception of children's play and in providing basic data for parent education to promote the development of playfulness and happiness in children.
Slip sliding away: a case study of the impact of public sector cuts on some of the services supporting children's play opportunities in the city of Sheffield in the north of England
