The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of outdoor plays with natural toys on
toddler’s social/emotional development and communication abilities. Study subjects were 28 children of
2 years old at a child-care center in S City. This study was carried out in the procedure of
preliminary survey, pre-test, experiment and post-test. Study findings are as follows: First, regarding
the effect of outdoor plays with natural toys on toddler’s social/emotional development, the level of
social/emotional development of toddlers in the experiment group was statistically and significantly
higher than that of toddlers in the control group. Second, regarding the effect of outdoor plays with
natural toys on toddler’'s communication abilities, the communication ability of toddlers in the
experiment group was statistically and significantly higher than that of toddlers in the control group.
Since outdoor plays with natural toys have significant positive effects on toddler’s social/emotional
development and communication abilities, it will be actively used in early childhood educational
institutions as an important activity for toddler’s development and learning which can be applicable
to early childhood education.