Our theoretical framework is based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development focusing on adults' involvement in children's play and we argue that teachers' involvement is crucial in supporting children's play skills. Particularly, this study examines early childhood teachers' (ECTs) sociodramatic and imaginative play skills and their development…

Studies have found a relationship between pretend play and self-regulation both during and outside pretend play; however, very few have investigated these three variables simultaneously. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between the frequency of role-play (a type of pretend play), self-regulatory behaviour during role-play, and…

Numerous studies argue that inhibitory control could be successfully enhanced in play activities during preschool age. Previous studies showed that fantasy significantly associated with inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. It was also shown that inhibitory control is related to symbolic play (imagination of absent objects, attributing…

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the main components of role play, according to Vygotsky (object substitution, idea of play, play interaction), and executive functions (working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, planning) in preschool age. The study involved 56 children, 5 to 6 years old (29 boys and 27…

This study investigated whether two educational strategies, providing material and active adult support during play, promote pretend play quality in a group of preschoolers. The sample consisted of 101 preschoolers (50% females; mean age at t1= 43.02 months, SD= 5.94) from 14 Swiss educational play groups. These were randomly allocated to the…

Different approaches to implementing 'learning through play' exist in many countries due to different understandings of the concept of play. In Indonesia, teachers implement play in a structured way following certain play developmental stages, where the focus is on children's academic outcomes, rather than the development of concepts as part of…

Pretend play leads to real-life learning. By imitating a firefighter using a horse, a doctor checking a patient's ear, or a construction worker building a skyscraper, children learn about community roles and services and feel proud and satisfied. When they pretend, children create pictures in their minds of past experiences and use their…

The voices of both early childhood education teachers and children tend to be weak in the choir of agents that constitute the aims and practices of early childhood education. In this article, a video that a teacher made of four children playing dragons, followed by open-ended interviews exploring why she found this particular activity of interest…

In unprecedented times, the global community is calling for greater knowledge and engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to support the decision making and practices of the general community. COVID-19 has highlighted this pressing need and inviting a 'new normal'. But STEM is not the core business of early childhood.…

We explore our experiences with roleplaying games across learning environments, chasing communal questions such as: how can teachers engage with the possibilities of roleplaying in classroom spaces, and how can we leverage such practices to open up spaces for youth to bodily experience texts, express identities, and imagine new worlds? This…

Social interactions at the playground have been represented as a rich learning opportunity to hone and master social skills at preschool years. Specifically, all forms of social play (fantasy, role, exercise or rough-and-tumble) have been related to children's social competence. The main goal of this study was to examine whether it is a certain…

The authors consider mature make-believe play a critical component of childhood that helps children develop new skills and learn to communicate. They argue that, although theoretical accounts of play have emphasized the importance of make-believe play for children to achieve social and academic competence, the absence of a reliable and valid…

This paper presents a new theoretical model of creative imagination and its applications in early education. The model sees creative imagination as composed of three inter-related components: vividness of images, their originality, and the level of transformation of imageries. We explore the theoretical and practical consequences of this new…

The author looks at children's play from the perspective of interpretive reproduction, emphasizing the way children create their own unique peer cultures, which he defines as a set of routines, artifacts, values, and concerns that children engage in with their playmates. The article focuses on two types of routines in the peer culture of preschool…

This article explores the role of play in an art museum. Reflecting upon a kindergarten field trip to the Warhol Museum in which children's play was the centerpiece of the museum experience, the author examines what early childhood theorists have written about the value of play in young children's lives. She shows how the Warhol's program for…