Journal of Development Communication And Applied Theatre

Child development involves the biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and adulthood. Developmental changes may occur as a result of genetically controlled processes, known as maturation, or environmental factors and learning, but most commonly involves an interaction between the two. It may also occur as a result of human nature and of human ability to learn from the environment. This work examined the effect of drama on child development using NUCO primary schools as a case study. The study used the Observational Learning Theory by Bandura and Lev Vygotsy's Social Learning Theory. This study further adopts a qualitative method or paradigm of inquiry. The research instrument used for the study was a researcher’s developed instrument titled “Drama and Child Development Questionnaire” (DCDQ). The data gathered were exhaustively described using the explanation building analysis which explains the similarities and differences of viewpoints from the questionnaire data. Findings from the study revealed that there is a significant effect of drama on the social development of children including physical development, cognitive development, language skills development and socio-emotional development. The work recommended amongst others that school administrators should engage their children in drama activities as it has been found to improve social development skills of children. 

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