Investigation of the effect of activity-based social studies education on social skills of preschool children

It is important that children, who form the basis of society and will build the future, are prepared for life by gaining social skills in early childhood. In the study, it was aimed to examine the effects of social studies education activities prepared in line with the achievements of the social studies curriculum (2018) and preschool education program (2013) for preschool children on the social skills of preschool children. In the study, quasi-experimental design was used and data diversity was used, and the quantitative study was supported by qualitative data. The study group of the research; In the 2021-2022 Spring Semester, the children studying in the 5-year-old class of an independent kindergarten affiliated to the Ministry of National Education consist of 33 pre-school children, 16 of which are in the experimental group and 17 in the control group. Before the application, the scale (OSBED) was applied to 3 classes in the same age group, and one of the two classes with similar social skill levels was assigned as the experimental group and the other as the control group. In the research, Demographic Information Form was used to get information about children and their families, Preschool Social Skills Assessment Scale (OSBED) Teacher Form to measure children's social skills, and pictures made by children after the activity. Social Studies Educational Activities were applied to the experimental group in the form of 20 activities for 10 weeks. The children determined as the control group continued their own programs. In addition, the control group was not intervened. The quantitative aspect of the research is the evaluation of the scores obtained from the OSBED form, the qualitative aspect is the descriptive analysis of children's drawings, direct quotations from children's comments and picture examples has created. According to the results of the research, between the experimental and control groups; The difference was found to be statistically significant both in the overall scale of Social Studies Educational Activities and in initial skills, academic skills, friendship skills, ability to manage and control emotions sub-dimension post-test and permanence test scores (p˂0.05). Another research result is that Social Studies Educational Activities, which are among the interpretations of children's pictures, are reflected on the pictures and the interpretations of the pictures. In line with these findings, suggestions were made for researchers and practitioners. Keywords: Social studies educational activities, preschool, social skills