• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.57-81
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to find out the feature of children's play according to a player number restriction rule in the free choice activities. And it is expected that the result of this study will contribute to improving the management of free choice activities. The participants of this study were a homeroom teacher, professor as a co-researcher and 25 4-year-old children of a private kindergarten. The data were collected by observation, children interview and reflective journal of the teacher from July to October in 2014. The results indicated that the children were stressed out with using name cards for presenting center selection, showed overcompetitive behaviors, and frequently violated the rules. The researchers found that the restriction rule had some dysfunctions, which were interferences of moral development, social-emotional development, self-regulation development, preventing safety-accident and free choice behavior. The researcher as a teacher abandoned the player number restriction rule, and observed the children's play. As a result, children's self-regulation abilities on physical space, play and conflicts improved and the teacher changed her strategy when managing free choice activities. Based on the results, the needs of various restriction rules and appropriate methods for applying the rules in free choice activities were further discussed.