Designing effective educational practices that can support children's development is a pressing challenge for educators and policymakers. Within the cultural-historical approach, the social environment serves as a source of development for the child, but it becomes truly developmental only when the child actively engages with it (Vygotsky, 2004). This process is mediated by perezhivanie, understood as an emotional, lived-through experience that integrates cognitive, emotional, and cultural aspects of a child's activity, thereby linking external social conditions with internal development. In this regard, the present study examines how the support of children's agency in educational practices as an external social condition influences their development.
The study investigates play- and project-based practices that vary in the degree of children's agency. The sample included 215 children aged 5-6 years (50.2% boys). A pre-test/post-test design assessed self-regulation (NEPSY-II subtests), narrative competence (MAIN), and social outcomes (SCBE-30, TEC). Сhildren were randomly assigned to five groups: (1) control group, (2) research project, (3) free play, (4) child-adult play, (5) creative projects. Each group participated in 22 sessions.
The results showed that the higher the degree of children's agency in an activity, the stronger its developmental effect. Free play supported gains in verbal working memory and narrative macrostructure. Child-adult play significantly enhanced working memory, inhibitory control, and narrative development. Creative project activity promoted narrative development and children initiative, reduced anxiety and aggression. In contrast, children in the control group showed an increase in aggressive behavior.
The findings suggest that supporting children's development requires organizing activities where they can act as active subjects, express their own ideas, and receive support for initiative. This study underlines the applied value of differentiating between play and project approaches in preschool education and offers evidence for balancing creativity, play, and guided interaction to foster holistic child development.