The Complexity of Preschool Children’s Dramatic Play Behaviour and Play Styles in Australia: A Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Dramatic play is recognised as an important source of learning and development for preschool children, yet there are increasing reports that the quality of dramatic play is declining. This paper aims to report on the findings of a mixed method study that examined the constructs of Australian preschool children's dramatic play behaviour. Video observations and the Smilansky Scale for the Evaluation of Dramatic and Socio-Dramatic Play (Smilanksy & Shefatya, 1990) were used with 101 preschool children aged 4 to 6 years in selected early childhood educational settings in Melbourne, Australia. Findings reveal that the overall level of children's dramatic play behaviour was low. A typology of four play styles will be presented. Implications on educators' pedagogy are discussed.

The emergence of dyadic pretend play quality during peer play: The role of child competence, play partner competence and dyadic constellation

“…The high level of actor variance indicated that a large proportion of variance lies within a child and contributes to a rather stable play quality with different play partners during dyadic peer play. Bearing in mind the small age range (37–56 months), this finding indicates that the differences between children are not due simply to normative developmental differences, and reinforces the notion that there are considerable individual differences in children's social pretend play quality (Robertson, 2016).…”

“…At the same time, the quality of children's pretend play also increases on a symbolic level: Objects used in play shift from being real to being imaginative ( decontextualization ), stand‐alone play actions increasingly become roles that are played out consistently and used flexibly ( role‐taking ), and scenarios change from single actions to scripted and planned scenes ( sequencing and planning ) (Bodrova & Leong, 2007; Fein, 1981; Smilansky, 1968). Although this is the preferable developmental pattern of social pretend play quality, there are major inter‐individual differences, and not all children achieve high‐quality social pretend play (Robertson, 2016). Keeping in mind the positive impact of high‐quality social pretend play, it is important to understand the reasons for these differences in children's play and to shed light on the factors that determine and facilitate the emergence of high‐quality social pretend play.…”