Introduction: Play is important for a child's physical, social, emotional and cognitive development and well-being. It invites the child to interact with other people and offers different ways of dealing with the child. Social play occurs as early as infancy and then develops from a social smile to play with peers. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis was to explore the importance of play with peers for children's development, what role parents and peers play in the game and how deprivation of play affects the child's behavior and development. We wanted to find out how the deprivation of playing with peers in exceptional circumstances during the covid-19 epidemic in the spring of 2020 affected the child and his behavior and play. Methods: Parents of pre-school children who were between 3 and 6 years old in the spring months of 2020 answered the online questionnaire. It contained closed-ended and open-ended questions. Results: The survey questionnaire was completed by 47 parents of preschool children. Among the children, there were 26 girls and 21 boys. We found that the time for free play during the week in the home environment during the epidemic due to the COVID-19 virus in most children was extended to more than four hours per day. Only half of the parents noticed a change in the child's behavior. Almost all the children missed their friends at least at some point during the emergency. Most parents were happy to have extra time to play with their children. Slightly less than half of the parents felt that this period was also stressful due to working from home, more work with household chores, more children in need and working with schooling from the home of an older child. According to parents, for more than half of the children, this period was not stressful or even easier for them. Discussion and conclusion: Social play is important for children as it reduces stress. Prolonged lack of play with peers, which can result in an epidemic, adversely affects a child’s behavior and mental health and leads to depression, feelings of hostility, aggression, and an increased chance of hyperactivity. Except one all children missed playing with friends during the epidemic. Almost all the parents were happy for the extra time to play with children but for almost half that period of time was also stressful.
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