The Relations of Mechanically Recorded Activity Level to Varieties of Preschool Play Behavior

Vigorous play activity has consistently been identified as a general dimension of early play behavior. Many studies have used ratings rather than objective measures of activity, and the generality of activity in such studies may be partly artifactual. This study reported relations between a simple and reliable activity recorder, observer data of vigorous play in outdoor and indoor settings, and teachers' ratings. The recorder was highly related to other objective data for both sexes outdoors, but only males showed generality of play across situations. Recorder data showed males more active than females and were related to nearly all teachers' ratings for both sexes.