The Relationship Between Outing Class Activities and Socio-Emotional Development in Early Childhood
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25217/ji.v10i2.6433Keywords:
Early Childhood education, Outing Class Activities, Socio-Emotional DevelopmentAbstract
Social-emotional development in early childhood is crucial for building interpersonal skills and emotional regulation. However, classroom activities often do not provide sufficient opportunities for children to effectively develop social skills. This study aims to explore the impact of outing class activities on the social-emotional development of early childhood children at TK IT Sakinah Sungai Rumbai. A qualitative approach was used with direct observations and interviews with teachers and the principal. The findings show that outing class activities have a positive impact on the development of self-awareness, responsibility, and prosocial behavior in children. Children showed improvement in emotion regulation, conflict resolution, and peer interactions. Although some negative emotions, such as impatience and conflicts, were observed, these activities provided opportunities for children to learn how to manage these challenges. This study recommends that outing class activities be an integral part of early childhood education curricula to support comprehensive social-emotional development.
References
Ashton, K., Davies, A. R., Hughes, K., Hughes, K., Ford, K., Cotter-Roberts, A., Bellis, M. A., & Bellis, M. A. (2021). Adult support during childhood: a retrospective study of trusted adult relationships, sources of personal adult support and their association with childhood resilience resources. BMC Psychology, 9(1), 101. https://doi.org/10.1186/S40359-021-00601-X
Bastianello, T., Silletti, F., Cassibba, R., Coppola, G., Musso, P., Rossini, V., Zusi, C., Unali, I., Florit, E., Majorano, M., Maffeis, C., & Lavelli, M. (2025). Short-Term Effects of an Outdoor Activities Intervention on Children’s Stress, Socio emotional, Behavioral, and Cognitive Regulation Skills. Early Education and Development, 36(3), 724–743. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2024.2423387
Bellis, M. A., Bellis, M. A., Hardcastle, K., Ford, K., Hughes, K., Hughes, K., Ashton, K., Quigg, Z., & Butler, N. (2017). Does continuous trusted adult support in childhood impart life-course resilience against adverse childhood experiences - a retrospective study on adult health-harming behaviours and mental well-being. BMC Psychiatry, 17(1), 110. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12888-017-1260-Z
Bosmans, G., Waters, T. E. A., Finet, C., Finet, C., Winter, S. De, & Hermans, D. (2019). Trust development as an expectancy-learning process: Testing contingency effects. PLOS ONE, 14(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0225934
Brezack, N., Meyer, M., Meyer, M., & Woodward, A. L. (2021). Three-year-olds’ Perspective-taking in Social Interactions: Relations with Socio-cognitive Skills. Journal of Cognition and Development, 22(4), 537–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2021.1901713
Brownell, C. A. (2013). Early Development of Prosocial Behavior: Current Perspectives. Infancy, 18(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/INFA.12004
Busching, R., & Krahé, B. (2020). With a Little Help from Their Peers: The Impact of Classmates on Adolescents’ Development of Prosocial Behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(9), 1849–1863. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10964-020-01260-8
Busetto, L., Wick, W., & Gumbinger, C. (2020). How to use and assess qualitative research methods. Neurological Research and Practice, 2(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/S42466-020-00059-Z/TABLES/1
Chen, J. J. (2024). An Integrated Approach to Social and Emotional Teaching (SET): A Qualitative Study of the Beliefs and Practices of Preschool Teachers in the United States. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10643-024-01803-9/FIGURES/2
Cuartas, J., Hanno, E. C., Lesaux, N. K., & Jones, S. M. (2022). Executive function, self-regulation skills, behaviors, and socioeconomic status in early childhood. PLOS ONE, 17(11), e0277013. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277013
Damayanti, S. D., & Syafril, S. (2024). An Analysis of Social-Emotional Development in the Early Childhood Education Process. Aulad: Journal on Early Childhood, 7(2), 304–313. https://doi.org/10.31004/AULAD.V7I2.638
Donkoh, S., & Mensah, J. (2023). Application of triangulation in qualitative research. Journal of Applied Biotechnology & Bioengineering, Volume 10(Issue 1), 6–9. https://doi.org/10.15406/JABB.2023.10.00319
Donohue, M. R., Williamson, R. A., & Tully, E. C. (2020). Emotional contexts influence toddlers’ prosocial strategies. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 44(6), 551–556. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025420912007
Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., & Eggum, N. D. (2010). Emotion-Related Self-Regulation and Its Relation to Children’s Maladjustment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6(1), 495–525. https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV.CLINPSY.121208.131208
Emotion-focused teaching practices and preschool children’s social and learning behaviors. (2022). Emotion, 22(8), 1869–1885. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000988
Felice, S. De, de C. Hamilton, A. F., Ponari, M., & Vigliocco, G. (2022). Learning from others is good, with others is better: the role of social interaction in human acquisition of new knowledge. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 378(1870). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2021.0357
Ferreira, M., Martinsone, B., & Talić, S. (2020). Promoting Sustainable Social Emotional Learning at School through Relationship-Centered Learning Environment, Teaching Methods and Formative Assessment. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 22(1), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.2478/JTES-2020-0003
Hein, S., Röder, M., & Fingerle, M. (2018). The role of emotion regulation in situational empathy-related responding and prosocial behaviour in the presence of negative affect. International Journal of Psychology, 53(6), 477–485. https://doi.org/10.1002/IJOP.12405
Hernández, M. M., Eisenberg, N., Valiente, C., VanSchyndel, S. K., Spinrad, T. L., Silva, K. M., Berger, R. H., Diaz, A., Terrell, N., Thompson, M. S., & Southworth, J. (2016). Emotional expression in school context, social relationships, and academic adjustment in kindergarten. Emotion, 16(4), 553–566. https://doi.org/10.1037/EMO0000147
Heylen, J., Raedt, R. De, Rocklage, M. D., Fazio, R. H., Vasey, M. W., & Bosmans, G. (2019). From trust in caregivers’ support to exploration: The role of openness to negative affect and self-regulation. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 60(4), 309–322. https://doi.org/10.1111/SJOP.12543
Huberty, K. (2024). Nature’s Classroom: Outdoor Learning in Early Childhood. https://nwcommons.nwciowa.edu/education_masters
Josephidou, J., Kemp, N., & Durrant, I. (2021). Outdoor provision for babies and toddlers: exploring the practice/policy/research nexus in English ECEC settings. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2021.1985555
Kalland, M., & Linnavalli, T. (2022). Associations Between Social-Emotional and Language Development in Preschool Children. Results from a Study Testing the Rationale for an Intervention. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 67(5), 791–804. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2022.2070926
Kampis, D., Wiesmann, C. G., Wiesmann, C. G., Koop, S., & Southgate, V. (2021). Understanding the self in relation to others: Infants spontaneously map another’s face to their own at 16 to 26 months. Developmental Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/DESC.13197
Lane, R. D., & Smith, R. (2021). Levels of emotional awareness: Theory and measurement of a socio‐emotional skill. Journal of Intelligence, 9(3), 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/JINTELLIGENCE9030042
Li, B., Blijd-Hoogewys, E. M. A., Stockmann, L., Vergari, I., & Rieffe, C. (2022). Toward feeling, understanding, and caring: The development of empathy in young autistic children. Autism, 27(5), 1204–1218. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221117955
López-Pérez, B., Wilson, E. L., Dellaria, G., & Gummerum, M. (2016). Developmental differences in children’s interpersonal emotion regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 40(5), 767–780. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11031-016-9569-3
Mann, J. E., Gray, T., Truong, S., Brymer, E., Passy, R., Ho, S. C. M., Sahlberg, P., Ward, K., Bentsen, P., Curry, C. A., & Cowper, R. A. (2022). Getting Out of the Classroom and Into Nature: A Systematic Review of Nature-Specific Outdoor Learning on School Children’s Learning and Development. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.877058
Martikainen, S., Kalland, M., Linnavalli, T., Kostilainen, K., Reunamo, J., Vasileiou, Z., & Tervaniemi, M. (2023). Supporting social-emotional development in early childhood education and care – a randomized parallel group trial evaluating the impact of two different interventions. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2023.2204119
McCoy, D. C., Cuartas, J., Waldman, M. R., & Fink, G. (2019). Contextual variation in young children’s acquisition of social-emotional skills. PLOS ONE, 14(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0223056
Molyneux, T. M., Zeni, M., & Oberle, E. (2022). Choose Your Own Adventure: Promoting Social and Emotional Development Through Outdoor Learning. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01394-3
Morgan, H. (2024). Using Triangulation and Crystallization to Make Qualitative Studies Trustworthy and Rigorous. The Qualitative Report, 29(7), 1844–1856. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2024.6071
Näslund-Hadley, E., Santos, H., & Velez, L. E. (2023). Socioemotional Learning in Early Childhood Education: Experimental Evidence from the Think Equal Program’s Implementation in Colombia.
Niu, S. J., Niemi, H., & Furman, B. (2022). Supporting K-12 Students to Learn Social-Emotional and Self-Management Skills for Their Sustainable Growth with the Solution-Focused Kids’Skills Method. Sustainability, 14(13), 7947. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137947
Nix, R. L., Bierman, K. L., Heinrichs, B. S., Gest, S. D., Welsh, J. A., & Domitrovich, C. E. (2016). The randomized controlled trial of Head Start REDI: Sustained effects on developmental trajectories of social-emotional functioning. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(4), 310–322. https://doi.org/10.1037/A0039937
Patchen, A. K., Rakow, D. A., Wells, N. M., Hillson, S., & Meredith, G. R. (2024). Barriers to children’s outdoor time: teachers’ and principals’ experiences in elementary schools. Environmental Education Research, 30(1), 16–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2022.2099530
Perry, R. E., Blair, C., & Sullivan, R. M. (2017). Neurobiology of infant attachment: Attachment despite adversity and parental programming of emotionality. Current Opinion in Psychology, 17, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.COPSYC.2017.04.022
Preckel, K., Kanske, P., & Singer, T. (2018). On the interaction of social affect and cognition: empathy, compassion and theory of mind. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 19, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.COBEHA.2017.07.010
Qualter, P., Urquijo, I., Henzi, P., Barrett, L., & Humphrey, N. (2019). Ability Emotional Intelligence and Children’s Behaviour in the Playground. Social Development, 28(2), 430–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/SODE.12340
Reid, K. B., Sacrey, L.-A. R., Zwaigenbaum, L., Raza, S., Brian, J., Smith, I. M., Bryson, S. E., Armstrong, V., Roberts, W., Szatmari, P., Vaillancourt, T., & Roncadin, C. (2020). The association between social emotional development and symptom presentation in autism spectrum disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 32(4), 1206–1216. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579420000711
Rothbart, M. K., Sheese, B. E., Rueda, M. R., & Posner, M. I. (2011). Developing Mechanisms of Self-Regulation in Early Life. Emotion Review, 3(2), 207–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073910387943
Son, H., & Berdychevsky, L. (2024). Recreation and sport programs for social-emotional development among socially vulnerable youth. Journal of Leisure Research, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2024.2429540
Steinbeis, N. (2016). The role of self-other distinction in understanding others’ mental and emotional states: neurocognitive mechanisms in children and adults. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 371(1688), 20150074. https://doi.org/10.1098/RSTB.2015.0074
Sugimura, K., Hihara, S., Hatano, K., Nakama, R., Saiga, S., & Tsuzuki, M. (2022). Profiles of Emotional Separation and Parental Trust from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Age Differences and Associations with Identity and Life Satisfaction. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52(3), 475–489. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-022-01716-z
Villardón-Gallego, L., García-Carrión, R., Yáñez-Marquina, L., & Estévez, A. (2018). Impact of the Interactive Learning Environments in Children’s Prosocial Behavior. Sustainability, 10(7), 2138. https://doi.org/10.3390/SU10072138
Wu, Y., Muentener, P., & Schulz, L. (2017). One- to four-year-olds connect diverse positive emotional vocalizations to their probable causes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(45), 11896–11901. https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.1707715114
Yoga and Mindfulness for Social-Emotional Development and Resilience in 3–5 Year-Old Children: Non-Randomized, Controlled Intervention. (2023). Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 109–118. https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s385413
Zuddas, A. (2012). A crucial role for basic emotion awareness in the development of emotion regulation. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 21(6), 297–299. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00787-012-0283-8
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Isnaini Isnaini, Lesis Andre, Sunimaryanti, Widia Siska, Ayu Mustika Sari, Resty Anggraini
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
