PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN’S GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PLAYFUL ACTIVITIES

Boys and girls differ in the way they choose and participate in playful activities right from an early age. This is believed to be a result of the socialization process, in which boys and girls are socialized differently through play, and also are supported differently to manifest behaviors regarded as playful. The purpose of this study was determine whether there are differences between boys and girls on the factors that influence the choice and participation in playful actvities among kindergarten children in selected primary schools in Dar es Salaam region, Tanzania. The sample included 304 children (152 girls and 152 boys) from 8 primary schools in Dar es salaam region. The mean age of children was 7,6 ± 0,4 years. Children were evaluated using Barnett’s 1991. Children’s Playful scale. The factors that were considered to influence children’s choice and participation in playful activities were physical spontaneity, social spontaneity, cognitive spontaneity, manifest joy and sense of humor. Multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the multivariate effect of gender was statistically significant only for physical spontaneity (F5,304=19.06, p