Pentingnya bermain peran (Role Playing) untuk mengembangkan keterampilan sosial-emosional anak usia dini

Abstract

This study aims to explore the role of role-playing in the development of social-emotional skills in early childhood. Role-playing allows children to imitate and understand various social roles, practice empathy, and manage their emotions in a safe and structured environment. The research method used is a qualitative approach with a case study on a group of 4-5 years old children in a kindergarten. Data were collected through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation analysis. The results show that role-playing significantly improves children's ability to interact with peers, share, negotiate, and express their feelings verbally. The implications of these findings are the importance of integrating role-playing activities into the early childhood education curriculum to support their holistic development. Furthermore, role-playing activities have been shown to help children develop their ability to understand others' perspectives and increase their confidence in communication. Children who actively participate in these activities tend to be better at managing simple conflicts and establishing positive social relationships. Thus, role-playing not only serves as a fun learning medium but also as an effective means of building a foundation for early social-emotional skills. Therefore, educators need to actively design and facilitate purposeful and contextual role-playing activities to maximize their benefits.