A new approach to children's education quarterly

A new approach to children's education quarterly

Investigating the Effectiveness of a Structured Educational Games Program on ‎Creativity Components in Preschool Children in Tehran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
maryam Esfahani 1
Fatemeh Sabetghadam Tabrizi 2
1 Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 14665-889, Tehran, Iran.
2 ‎2.‎ Master's graduate in Preschool Education, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran.‎ Tehran, Iran
10.22034/naes.2026.579223.1862
Abstract
Background and aim: The preschool period is considered one of the most important and critical stages in ‎the development of a child's creativity, and structured educational games can play an effective role in ‎fostering their cognitive skills and creativity; therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the ‎effectiveness of a structured educational game program on the creativity components of preschool children ‎in Tehran.. Research MethodsThis study employed a quasi-experimental design featuring a pre-test and ‎post-test with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all preschool children in District 10 of ‎Tehran during the 1404–1405 academic year; inquiries with the district's Department of Education estimated ‎the total population at 1,620 children. The study sample comprised 60 children selected via convenience ‎sampling; following a matching process based on initial creativity scores, they were assigned to either the ‎experimental group or the control group (30 children per group). The experimental group participated in a ‎structured educational games program, whereas the control group received standard instruction. Data were ‎collected using the standard Torrance Creativity Questionnaire (1998). Descriptive statistics—including ‎mean, frequency, percentage, and standard deviation—were used to analyze the data, while inferential ‎statistical analysis employed the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). ‎Results: The findings from the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) demonstrated that, after controlling for ‎the pre-test effect, the structured educational games program had a significant positive impact on the ‎creativity of preschool children and its components—namely originality, fluency, flexibility, and ‎elaboration (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the obtained effect sizes indicated a substantial impact of the ‎intervention on the development of the children's creativity..Conclusion Research findings indicate that ‎interventions based on structured play offer more than mere entertainment for preschool children; by ‎stimulating cognitive, social, and emotional processes, such play fosters an environment conducive to the ‎development of various facets of creativity. Through the creation of problem-oriented scenarios—‎incorporating trial-and-error, peer interaction, role-playing, decision-making, and the generation of diverse ‎responses—structured play encourages children to act using multiple modes of thinking.‎
Keywords
Play
Creativity
Preschool Children
Tehran
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 21 April 2026
  • Revise Date 17 July 2026
  • Accept Date 23 July 2026
  • First Publish Date 23 July 2026
  • Publish Date 23 August 2026