Determinants of lockdown impact on preschool children

COVID-19 pandemic has changed the living of people of all ages throughout the world. While it led to fear and restricted movements of all, it also resulted in the problems related to least movements such as overcrowding in small houses, increased domestic violence, joblessness, addiction, etc. Most of these had detrimental effects on the lives of people including preschool children. Normally preschool children attend anganwadi/ Balwadi or the pay group nursery in India. This is the time to prepare the children for schooling in next few years, normally. The preschool phase lasts for two to three years. The phase emphasizes separation individuation of the child from the primary caregiver, - the mother in most cases. It is also a phase of social skill training like learning to mix, talk, share and play with other children. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought these activities to absolute standstill in last one and a half year. Naturally the children today with lockdown lifted and school opened offline are poorly prepared for the schooling. The foregoing article gives and account of the multiple dimensions in which this lockdown might have influenced the preschool children.