A strong foundation of literacy is formed in the childs early years. This study assessed the Play-Based Approach and Pupils Literacy Level of the Kindergarten Pupils of Balacanas Elementary School, Villanueva South District, Villanueva Misamis Oriental. It sought to answer the pretest performance of the Controlled and Experimental Groups the posttest performance of the Controlled and Experimental Group of Kindergarten pupils the significant difference between the pretest and posttest and the significant difference between the posttest of the Controlled and the Experimental Group. The study employed descriptive and quasi-experiment. The primary data collection tool used was adopted from Early Grade Reading Assessment. The result revealed that the majority of the Controlled Group and Experimental Group had not reached the expected learning competency. The result showed that the Play-Based Teaching Approach is an effective literacy strategy to teach Kindergarten pupils to increase their reading literacy. It revealed no significant difference between the pretest and posttest of the Controlled Group. Moreover, there is a  significant difference in the past results of the Controlled and Experimental Groups. It should be highlighted that the Play-Based Teaching Approach has a significant effect on the Pupils Reading Literacy level. Therefore, the teachers are encouraged to plan, craft, create, and implement the said differentiated and practical play-based teaching approaches.

Controlled

Experimental

play based method