본 연구는 숲체험 자연감각놀이 활동이 유아의 정서지능과 자아존중감에 미치는 영향을 알아보고자 하였다. 연구대상은 경북 G시에 위치한 L유치원에 재원중인 4세 유아로 실험집단 20명, 비교집단 20명으로 하였다. 실험집단은 주 2회씩 8주 동안 16회기에 걸쳐 자연감각놀이를 숲에서 실시하였고, 비교집단은 누리과정에 맞는 실외놀이 활동을 하였으나 따로 구성한 활동을 적용하지 않았다. 숲체험 자연감각놀이의 효과를 검증하기 위하여 활동 전, 후에 정서지능과 자아존중감검사를 실시하였다. 수집된 자료는 SPSS 22.0 프로그램을 이용하여 통계처리하여 집단 간 차이를 t-test로 비교・분석하였다. 연구결과를 살펴보면 첫째, 숲체험 자연감각놀이는 유아의 정서지능을 향상시키는데 효과적이었으며, 하위영역인 자기정서인식, 자기정서조절, 타인정서인식, 타인정서조절에서도 눈에 띄는 향상이 있었다. 둘째, 숲체험자연감각놀이는 유아의 자아존중감을 높이는 데 효과가 있었으며, 하위영역인 소속감, 유능감, 비교감, 가치감 향상에 효과적임이 검증되었다. 따라서 유아의 정서지능과 자아존중감 향상을 위해 발달수준에 적합한 다양한 숲체험 자연감각놀이 활동을 구성하고, 이를 제안, 실시할 수 있고 자연과 상호작용이 가능한 놀이환경을 제공해 줄 필요가 있다.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of forest experience natural sensory play activities on children’s emotional intelligence and self-esteem. The subjects of this study were 4-year-old infants enrolled in L Kindergarten located in G city, Gyeongsangbuk-do, with 20 in the experimental group and 20 in the comparative group. The experimental group conducted natural sensory play in the forest twice a week over 16 sessions for 8 weeks, and the comparative group performed outdoor play activities suitable for the Nuri curriculum, but did not apply the separately constructed activities. In order to verify the effectiveness of the forest experience natural sensory play, emotional intelligence and self-esteem tests were conducted before and after the activities. The collected data were statistically processed using the SPSS 22.0 program, and the differences between groups were compared and analyzed by t-test. Looking at the results of the study, first, forest experience natural sensory play was effective in improving the emotional intelligence of children, and there was a remarkable improvement in the sub-areas of self-emotional awareness, self-emotional regulation, emotional recognition of others, and emotional regulation of others. Second, it can be seen that the forest experience natural sensory play is effective in increasing the self-esteem of children, and it has been verified that it is effective in improving the sense of belonging, competence, control, and value, which are sub-areas. Therefore, in order to improve children’s emotional intelligence and self-esteem, it is necessary to organize various forest experience natural sensory play activities suitable for the level of development, propose and implement them, and provide a play environment that can interact with nature.