Development of mental, social and motor skills through some local Nigerian games and toys

Ayotola Aremu¹ and Adefunke Ekine²

¹Department of Teacher Education, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria.

²Department of Educational foundations, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author Email: Funkeekine64@yahoo.com

Accepted 19 July, 2012

Abstract

Play to the child is large assortment of activity that promotes his or her total development. When a child is allowed free play these results in total adjustment, character training, satisfaction, problem solving skills and education among many others. Nigerian children generally practice local games that enable them to socialize with their peers. This paper is an attempt to investigate the local games played by children and the developmental skills associated with the same games. Two hundred and thirty children were involved in the research from four public and four private schools. Ten local games were described and the children’s awareness of the games and impact were discussed. The paper was able to show the local games and the effect on the development of skills in children.

Keywords: Games, Skills,C hildren, Socialize, Peers, Schools, Charactertraining, Adjustment, Satisfaction, Education