An Analysis of The Types of As-If Elements and Narratives in Pretend Play
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to analyze the types of as-if elements and narratives that appear in pretend play. A total of 29 children participated in this study. These included ten 3-year-old children (7 boys and 3 girls), nine 4-year-old children (5 boys and 4 girls), and ten 5-year-old children (6 boys and 4 girls). Five undergraduates majoring in early childhood care and education were trained to observe and record the as-if elements and narratives in the pretend play. The children were divided into 6 groups of 5 children each, and one group of four. The children participated in three pretend play sessions. The first session’s theme was ‘my house and my family’, the second session’s theme was ‘our town’, and the third session’s theme was ‘the castle’. The duration of each play session was 30 minutes. To facilitate the pretend play, 3 observers read fairy tales based on each session’s theme to the children for 10 minutes as an introductory activity and the pretend play session had a duration of 20 minutes. In addition, to activate the pretend play, toys related to each pretend play session and dramatic costumes (for example, prince and princess costumes) were provided. The researcher and five research assistants observed and recorded all play conversations and behaviors. In addition, two video camcorders were used to record all the play sessions. The mean and standard deviations of the as-if elements were calculated. The results were as follows: First, the types of pretend play were ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, and a ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’. The objects of pretending were ‘pretending to play a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘pretending a situation (pretending a time, pretending a space)’. The ways of pretending were the ‘self-subjective pretend play’ and ‘projective pretend play’. Second, among the types of pretend play, ‘doll dramatic pretend play’ appeared most frequently, followed by ‘theatrical pretend play’, and the ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’. In the ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’ appeared most frequently, followed by ‘pretending to play a role’, and ‘pretending a situation’.
Keywords:
pretend play, as-if elements, theatrical pretend play, doll dramatic pretend play, mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend playⅠ. Introduction
Pretend play includes as-if elements. As-if elements are pretending elements. Pretend play is interchangeable with imaginative play, symbolic play, dramatic play, fantasy play, or make-believe play. Pretend play allows children to fit the reality of the world into their own interests and knowledge. According to Piaget, symbolic play occurs when a child uses an object to represent or stand for another. Smilansky calls symbolic play dramatic play; Vygotsky labels it pretend play; and Boyd refer to it as fantasy play (Sluss 2005). Also known as pretend play, imaginary play is pretending to be someone or something else. It’s when a child acts like his/her favorite hero or character, real or imaginary. They might mimic someone they know, like a parent, friend, doctor, police officer, or teacher. It could be entirely make-believe like a deep-sea diving.
Pretend play fosters cognitive, social, emotional, language development. And pretend play facilitates problem solving ability, abstract thinking, and creativity. Especially, pretend play promotes cognitive development, abstract thought, and creativity. In their real lives, young children have difficulty at reversible thought and abstract thought. Moreover, they are lack of separating thought at the real and the meaning. But in the pretend play, they can do abstract thought and think the real and the meaning separately. For example, they can use and think ‘a long stick’ as ‘a horse’ in their pretend play. Because they pretend ‘a long stick’ as ‘a horse’. That is symbolic transformation of thought. They use a long stick as ‘a pivot’. Children can do abstract thinking.
Pretend play offers substantial learning potential for those working with young children. Facilitating the pretend play enables young children to extend and enhance their learning through creating and pretending role, object, and situations that motivate and encourage children to behave and function at higher cognitive level (Kitson 2015). Pretend play is significant, as it signifies the beginning of representational thought (Daly & Beloglovsky 2015).
Engaging in pretend play allows children to stimulate their imagination. As a result, it increases their creativity. With a good imagination, a child can pretend to be anything or anyone they want. Excellent problem-solving skills require creativity. Through pretend play, they develop problem-solving skills, like negotiating who gets to play what role to re-enacting real-life situations. Role play activities for preschoolers help a child practice their problem solving ability. Furthermore, these support cognitive development and build their potential as creative problem-solvers.
Through their pretend play, children create new pretend situations. Pretend play, imaginative play, symbolic play, dramatic play, and fantasy play involves imitation, pretense, imagination and creativity, symbolic activity and communication, interpreting social and cultural rules, and taking on and acting in role. Imitation, make-believe and symbolic activity are complex cognitive, emotional and social processes (Wood 2014). During the preschool years, children become increasingly involved in pretend play. They use their imagination to take on roles of other people and different creatures. As children participate in pretend play, they use creative thinking and develop their social skills as they work with others (Isbell & Yoshizawa 2016).
The world of pretend play is limitless. Young children can become so completely immersed in fantasy scenarios that everything around them falls away as they explore the inner world of their imaginations. The dramatic play provides a wealth of opportunities for engaging in high-level questioning, especially when teachers or parents ask question that help children explore complex human dynamics that are their daily lives. Children often act out things they have seen at home, on television, or in their community, and thoughtful questioning can help teachers or parents understand what their play is reflection and why it’s important them. For children, there are no ‘bad’ imaginary play scenarios. Only opportunities for teachers and them to gain a deeper understanding of their world and the possibilities it presents (Strasser & Bresson 2017).
The purposes of this study were to analyze the types of as-if elements and narratives in pretend play. Research questions in this study were as follows;
- 1. What are the types of as-if elements appearing in pretend play?
- 2. What are the most appearing as-if elements in pretend play?
- 3. What are the narratives of the each as-if elements in pretend play?
II. Methods
1. Participants
The participants for this study were 10 3-year-old children (7 boys and 3 girls), 9 4-year-old children (5 boys and 4 girls), and 10 5-year-old children (6 boys and 4 girls) enrolled in A child care centers located in A city, K province in South Korea. The numbers of the participating children and month age were summarized in Table 1. All children attended at full time programs. All imaginative play sessions were videotaped and these recordings were conducted under the parents’ and teachers’ agreements.
Summary of participants(n=29)
2. Procedure
Before starting main observation, preliminary observations were conducted. Through preliminary observations, some problems were found and these problems were made up for main observations. To facilitate pretend play, reading fairy tales and talking with children were needed. In addition, dolls and toys that related to each pretend play sessions and dramatic clothes (for example, princess dress) were supplemented.
5 undergraduates majoring in early childhood care and education (3 junior and 2 senior) were trained to observe and record the as-if elements in pretend play. Among them, 3 assistants had fairy tale reading’s license. They read fairy tales to facilitate pretend play as an introduction and then they observed pretend play. Prior to the observation, they were trained three times in total, for 90 minutes per one training session, about definition of pretending elements in pretend play, the meaning of pretense and coding systems, the method of observation, writing down at notes, recording video camcorder, reading fairy tales and talking with young children, and observer’s attitudes etc.
Main observation was conducted during 6 weeks. One group consisted of 5 children, they were grouped 3 boys and 2 girls or 2 boys and 3 girls in one group. Children played at role play center in classroom in their childcare center. Total 29 children were divided into 6 groups, 5 or 4 children were grouped in one group, and they participated in pretend play sessions 3 times. The themes of pretend play were ‘my house and my family’, ‘our town’, and ‘the castle’.
One play session lasted for 30 minutes. During the first 10 of 30 minutes, introduction activities were conducted by research assistants. Among research assistants, 3 assistants who had story book reading license, read the books to children in turns. They read story books that related to the themes of pretend play. Thus the aims of reading books were to facilitate children’s pretend play. The books were ‘If I have my mom and dad’, ‘My mom is pilot’, and ‘Sleeping beauty’. The book, ‘If I have my mom and dad’ is for the first theme ‘my house and my family’, ‘My mom is pilot’ is for the second theme ‘our town’, and ‘Sleeping beauty’ is for the third theme ‘the castle’. Each session after reading the book, research assistants talked with children about the stories, hero, heroine, characters, and their roles. Furthermore, research assistants asked to children, “If I were a mom, I would do something⋯”, “If I were a dad, ⋯”, “If I were a doctor, ⋯”, “If I were a police officer, ⋯”, “If I were a princess, ⋯”, and “If I were a prince, ⋯” These sayings and questions were to facilitate children’s pretend play. For example, the third play session (theme: ‘the castle’)’s introduction activity is as follows;
Introduction activity.
To promote pretend play, settings, props, and clothes were provided. Table 2 shows the themes, books, props and role play costumes. Among them, research assistants and main researcher made the house miniature, the town miniature, and the castle miniature together.
The themes, story books, play settings, props and role play costumes
After introduction activity, research assistants didn’t interaction with children. But if there was a child who didn’t play, observers encourage the child participate in play by asking “What will you do with these toys?” or if child didn’t express language, observers asked “I want to listen to your speaking, so will you speak more?”
Each research assistant observed each child as 1:1. They observed children’s pretending conversations and behaviors, and they wrote down the contents of as-if elements and coded the frequency of as-if elements. And all play sessions were videotaped by 2 video camcorders. After each play sessions were over, observers had the time checking the as-if elements to ensure the inter-rater reliability. Inter-rater reliability of coding frequency and types were established as follows: (a) the research assistants checked appearing pretending elements with observation forms and videotaped the scenes, (b) when the play session was over, researcher and five assistants discussed about the types of as-if elements compared each other and discussed about new or ambiguous pretending elements types, (c) and if there were any differences between their opinions, they discussed until they agreed on the types of pretending elements of them. And researcher developed new types for as-if elements in pretend play.
3. Research instruments
To analyze the as-if elements in pretend play, the analyzing scale of Han & Park (2011), Park & Han (2017), and Park & Han (2018) were used. As-if element was given a numeral value of 1, that is, verbal expression or behavioral expression of as-if elements was given a numeral value of 1. The total frequencies of as-if elements for each child were counted and given them to each child’s pretending score. Table 3 shows categories and sub-items for analyzing as-if elements in pretend play.
The categories and sub-items for analyzing as-if elements in pretend play
4. Data analysis
The mean and standard deviation of each as-if elements categories and sub-items were calculated.
Ⅲ. Results and Discussion
1. The types of as-if elements in pretend play
The final types for analyzing as-if elements in pretend play are as follows;
First, the types of pretend play were divided into ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, and ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’. (A) ‘Theatrical pretend play’ is a child pretends he or she becomes a theatre hero or heroine. Children pretend to be a character in theatre. (B) ‘Doll dramatic pretend play’ is children give meaning through doll, props, or some objects, and they pretend through doll, props, or some objects. Children pretend through projection. (C) ‘Mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’ is a complex of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play. In the case of a child pretend two roles at the same time. For example, in the case of a child pretend the mom’s role and baby’s role at the same time. “I’m your mom. you’re my baby.” “Baby, I’ll give you milk.” (In mom’s voice) “Yes. Mom. yummy, yummy.” (In baby’s voice) That is a child pretends two roles at the same time.
Second, according to the object of pretending, as-if elements are divided into ‘pretending to play a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘pretending a situation’. (A) ‘Pretending to play a role’ for representing a certain character involves declarative statements (naming) to mark the enacting role such as, “I am a police officer”, imitating behaviors of a character’s actions, and changing of voice’s intonation, pitch and color to mimic the assigned role. A character is not only a person but also can be a personified object or animal. (B) ‘Pretending with an object’ involves declarative statements to represent an object such as, “This is a bus”, gestures representing a certain object or animal, and noises or sounds of a certain object or animal (e.g., ‘bung~ bung~’). (C) ‘Pretending a situation’ is a child’s mention about time and spatial background within the pretend play. For example, “Now is night”, “Here is hair shop”(Park & Han 2017).
Third, according to the way of pretending, pretending elements are divided into ‘self-subjective pretend play’ and ‘projective pretend play’. (A) ‘Self-subjective pretend play’ is to transform himself (herself) into another person or object. (B) ‘Projective pretend play’ was to give the meaning of a person or an object to the doll or props (Park & Han 2017). Table 5 shows the types of as-if elements in pretend play.
The types of as-if elements in pretend play
2. Descriptive statistics of as-if elements in pretend play
Table 6 shows the mean and standard deviation of as-if elements scores for total play sessions. The mean of total pretend play frequency was 80.00. In the types of pretend play elements, ‘doll dramatic pretend play’ (M=66.43, SD=39.84) appeared most frequently, followed by ‘theatrical pretend play’ (M=18.05, SD=38.41) appeared, and ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’ (M=0.52, SD=1.83). Among the ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, the ‘pretending play with an object’ (M=33.96, SD=18.47) appeared most frequently, then the ‘pretending to play a role’ (M=32.67, SD=24.00), and the least appeared was the ‘pretending a situation’ (time; M=0.24, SD=0.54, space; M=1.95, SD=3.56).
Descriptive statistics of as-if elements in pretend play
In ‘theatrical pretend play’, the means of as-if element was 13.05. Among categories, the most frequently appeared as-if element was ‘pretending to play a role’, followed by ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘pretending a situation’. Among sub-items, ‘self-subjective pretend play’ of ‘pretending to play a role’ (M=6.95, SD=25.20) appeared most frequently, followed by ‘projective pretend play’ of ‘pretending play with an object’ (M=5.90, SD=14.50), and ‘self-subjective pretend play’ (M=0.10, SD=0.30) of ‘pretending play with an object’, ‘pretending a space’ of ‘pretending a situation’ (M=0.10, SD=0.30). Also, ‘projective pretend play’ of ‘pretending to play a role’ and ‘pretending a time’ of ‘pretending a situation’ did not appear in ‘theatrical pretend play’.
In ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, the mean of as-if element was 66.43. Among sub-items, ‘pretending play with an object’ appeared most frequently, followed by ‘pretending to play a role’, and ‘pretending a situation’. Among sub-items, ‘projective pretend play’ of ‘pretending to play with an object’ (M=33.90, SD=18.47) appeared most frequently, followed by ‘projective pretend play’ of ‘pretending to play a role’ (M= 32.67, SD=24.00), ‘pretending a space’ of ‘pretending a situation’ (M=1.95, SD=3.56), and ‘pretending a time’ of ‘pretending a situation’ (M=0.24, SD=0.54).
In ‘mixed of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’, the mean of as-if element was 0.52. Among categories, the most frequently appeared as-if element was ‘pretending to play a role’. The mean of ‘pretending play with an object’ and ‘pretending a situation’ are same. Among sub-items, ‘self-subjective pretend play’ of ‘pretending to play a role’ (M=0.29, SD=1.10) appeared most frequently, followed by ‘projective pretend play’ of ‘pretending to play a role’ (M=0.14, SD=0.65), ‘self-subjective pretend play’ of ‘pretending to play with an object’ (M=0.05, SD=0.22), and ‘pretending a time’ of ‘pretending a situation’ (M=0.05, SD=0.22). ‘Projective pretend play’ of ‘pretending to play with an object’ (M=0.00, SD=0.00) and ‘pretending a space’ of ‘pretending a situation’ (M=0.00, SD=0.00) did not appear in ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’.
3. The as-if elements and narratives in pretend play
(1) Pretending to play a role / Self-subjective pretend play / Pretending a situation
<Theme: The castle / Age: 3 years old / Gender: Boy>(Theme was the castle, but children played hair shop play)
This narrative is a ‘theatrical pretend play’. Because the child pretends himself as a hairdresser and he acts like he is a hero at the theatre. And he pretends the place as a hair shop in spatial background.
“I’m a hairdresser.” This narrative is a ‘pretending to play a role’ and ‘self-subjective pretend play’ because ‘hairdresser’ is a role and he pretends himself as a hairdresser so it is ‘self-subjective pretend play’.
“This place is a hair shop.” He pretends the role play center as a hair shop. It is ‘pretending a space’ in ‘pretending a situation’.
“Mam, I’ll cut your hair.” And child pretends like he cuts the assistant’s hair. He pretends the research assistant as a mam. So it is ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘pretending to play a role’ and ‘self-subjective pretend play’.
He gives the mirror to her “Look at the mirror.” He uses the mirror during he pretends a hairdresser. So the ‘mirror’ is belong to ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child J comb the research assistant’s hair. He uses the comb during he pretends a hairdresser. So the ‘comb’ is belong to ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child J says “I make up for your face. Please close your eyes.” “Chi chic! chi chic!” He pretends make up for the research assistant’s face with brush. He uses the brush during he pretends a hairdresser. So the ‘brush’ belongs to ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: The castle / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Girl>
This narrative is a ‘theatrical pretend play’. Because the child pretends herself as a princess and she acts like she is a hero at the theatre.
Child O wears a princess costume “Lalala♬” She wears a princess costume and pretends a princess. Thus it belongs to ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘pretending to play a role’ and ‘self-subjective pretend play’ because the ‘princess’ is a role and she pretends herself as a princess. So it is ‘self-subjective pretend play’.
She plays with a toy cake. “I’ll make delicious foods with cake ingredients.” “I knit whipped cream.” After she putting a candle and fruits in the toy cake “Now cake cutting time.” She pretends cut and pretends eat the toy cake. “Yummy. yummy.”
She uses a toy cake, whipped cream, a candle, and fruits during she pretends the princess. Thus these belong to ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
(1) Pretending to play a role / projective pretend play / pretending a situation
<Theme: The castle / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative is a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’. Because a child pretends a miniature man as a king.
Child K holding a miniature (sculpture) man in his hand, and shouts “I’m a powerful king!!” It also belongs to ‘Projective pretend play’. Because he pretends as a powerful king through a miniature man.
<Theme: The castle / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative is a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’. Because a child pretends a prince doll as a king and he pretends a princess doll as a queen.
It belongs to ‘pretending to play a role’ because the child pretends a prince doll as a wicked king and he pretends a princess doll as a bad witch queen. King and queen is a role. And the child pretends through a projection. “Here is a wicked king’s house.” It belongs to ‘pretending a situation’ and ‘pretending a space’
(2) Pretending to play a role / pretending play with an object / projective pretend play
<Theme: My house / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative is a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’. Because a child pretends a man block as a giant grandfather. And it belongs to ‘pretending to play a role’ and ‘projective pretend play’ because the child pretends a man block as a man and a child pretends a man through a man block. That is the child pretends through a projection.
The miniature bed belongs to ‘pretending play with an object’ and ‘projective pretend play’ because the child pretends play with the miniature of bed and the miniature bed is used as a projection.
<Theme: My house / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending to play a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’ and ‘Projective pretend play’.
Child H says by grasping a grandfather doll “Hello, I’m a giant grandfather.” The child pretends a grandfather doll as a giant grandfather. A giant grandfather is a role and the child pretends by a grandfather doll and he pretends through a grandfather doll. Thus it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending to play a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child H holds a man block “I changed clothes.” he opens a miniature closet. The child pretends a man block as a man. Man is a role, and the child pretends open the closet through a man block. Thus it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending to play a role’, ‘projective pretend play’, and closet belongs to ‘pretending play with an object’.
He goes to a miniature table, he pretends a man block eats candy “Yummy, yummy, yummy...” The child pretends a man block as a man and he pretends eat candy through a man block. A miniature table and a miniature candy belong to ‘pretending play with an object’ and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: My house / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child H says by holding a rhinoceros block and he pretends a rhinoceros block walk to other child who hold a man block “You meet rhinoceros when you’re walking.” Rhinoceros is an animal block and the child pretends through a rhinoceros block, so it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
“A crocodile comes out! A snake comes out!” He pretends fighting with animal block each other. A crocodile block and a snake block are animal block and the child pretends through a crocodile block and a snake block, so it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: My house / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
He lies a man block on the bed and pretends the man block sleeping. The man block is pretended as a man, the man block is a kind of doll, and the child pretends through the man block. So it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’. The bed belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
He moves the man block near the pond “You should shower.” he pretends wash the man block and he lies again the man block on the bed “Coo~~! coo~~!” The man block, the pond, and the bed belong to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
The pond belongs to ‘pretending a situation’ and ‘pretending a space’. The bed belongs to ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
He holds a grandfather doll again “But the giant comes and he tramples” he plays with giant play. A grandfather doll is pretended as the giant and the child pretend through projection. Thus it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: My house / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Boy>
A crocodile block, chimney, and animal doll belong to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: My house / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child H holds a man block with walking, he grasps and pretends move the neck of block, and look around the surroundings. he lies the man block again on the bed and pretends sleep. “Coo~~!” The man block is pretended as a man, the man block is a kind of doll, and the child pretends through the man block. So it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’. The bed belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
“Let’s shower.” he grasps and move the man block near the pond. ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
“Wow! a fish” he pretends fishing through a man block. ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: My house / Age: 3 years old / Gender: Girl>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, ‘projective pretend play’, ‘pretending a situation’.
Child S holds a man block and pretends a man block look around the house. The man block is pretended as a dad, the man block is a kind of doll, and the child pretends through the man block. So it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
She gets on the man block on the car block “bung~ bung~.” The car block is pretended as a car. The car block is a kind of doll, and the child pretends through the car block. So it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
“Guys, night is coming.” It belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending a situation’, and ‘pretending a time’.
She lays the man block on the miniature of bed and erects the man block again. It belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, The miniature of bed is pretended as a bed. It belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, ‘projective pretend play’.
“I’ll eat a candy.” “I will eat a cake.” “I will watch TV.” (Child S pretends the man block eat a miniature of cake and pretends the man block watch a miniature of TV). A miniature of candy, a cake, TV were pretended as a candy, a cake, and TV. It belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: Our town / Age: 3 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, ‘projective pretend play’, ‘pretending a situation’.
Child D holds a doctor doll and pretends a doctor doll walks. “Here (There) is a hospital. Here is a hospital. Child D pretends a doctor doll as a doctor. It belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’. In addition, Child D pretends a miniature of hospital as a hospital and he pretends the hospital as a space situation. So it belongs to ‘pretending a situation’, and ‘pretending a space’.
He pretends a miniature of an ambulance runs on the road again. “Bu~~ung~~! Bu~~ung~~!” “Oh! An ambulance! ambulance!” A miniature of an ambulance was pretended as an ambulance. It belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: Our town / Age: 3 years old / Gender: Boy>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child D pretends a policeman doll as a policeman. A policeman doll was pretended as a policeman. A policeman is a role. Child D played by policeman doll and he pretended through it. So it belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child D and Child J pretend other block as a thief . It belong to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: Our town / Age: 3 years old / Gender: boy>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’ ‘pretending play with an object’, ‘projective pretend play’, ‘pretending a situation’.
Child W pretends a miniature car driving on the miniature road and he put a car into a miniature building. A miniature car was pretended as a car. It belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child W points out the miniature mart and says to child J “It’s a Home plus mart.” A miniature building was pretended as a Home Plus mart. It belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
As child J pretends a miniature car is bumped into, child W says buzzing sounds “Whirring~ whirring~! Car accident is happened! Car accident is happened!” and he moves a miniature police car. ‘Doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, ‘projective pretend play’, and ‘pretending a situation’.
He holds on and moves a miniature police car “Whirring~ whirring~” “Let’s catch a thief!! He holds on a miniature fire truck and police car “Let’s extinguish a fire!!” “Let’s catch a thief!!” “Let’s catch a fire thief!!”. A miniature police car was pretended as a police car. A miniature fire truck was pretended as a fire truck. These belong to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
He plays by a man block and shouts “Please help me~! (Please rescue me~!) “Honk! Honk!” He put the man block on the bus block construction and moves the bus. A man block was pretended as a man. It belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’. The bus block construction was pretended as a bus. It belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: The castle / Age: 5 years old / Gender: Girl>
This narrative belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
She points out a prince doll and says “This is a king. king.” A prince doll was pretended as a king. It belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child Y holds a princess doll “Is this a Rapunzel? She has a long hair.” Child Y playing by Rapunzel doll with other child who holds a prince doll. A doll of princess was pretended as a Rapunzel. It belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
She shakes a doll of princess “I’m a Rapunzel.” A princess doll was pretended as a Rapunzel. It belongs to a ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play with a role’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
<Theme: My house / Age: 3 years old / Gender: Girl>
This narrative belongs to a ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’
Child O hugs a baby doll and pretends feeding a bottle of milk to a baby doll and she used a miniature orange man as a bottle of milk. “I’ll rear (my) baby by feeding milk.” “Do you want a milk? this is a taste of apple milk. baby, have this yummy milk.” Child O pretends by herself as a baby’s mom at the same time she pretends a baby doll as a baby. Thus it belongs to ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘pretending play a role, ‘self-subjective pretend play’, and ‘projective pretend play’. And child O pretends a baby doll as a baby, it belongs to ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play a role, and ‘projective pretend play’.
Child O pretends miniature of orange man as a bottle of milk. In this narratives, ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, ‘pretending play an object’, and ‘projective pretend play’.
The baby doll says (as the baby’s voice) “I’ll not eat. I’ll not eat. I’ll not eat. I’ll not eat.” Child O pretends as a mom (as the mom’s voice) “No. baby cannot eat caramel.” Then she pretends feeding a bottle of milk to the baby doll. When the milk is almost empty “Gulp!” (as the baby’s voice). She pretends mom’s voice and baby’s voice. She pretends two persons at the same time by herself. In these narratives, ‘theatrical pretend play’ and ‘doll dramatic pretend play’ are appeared at the same time. Thus these belong to ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’.
Ⅳ. Summary and Conclusions
The purpose of this study was to analyze the types of as-if elements and narratives that appeared in pretend play. The final types for analyzing as-if elements in pretend play were as follows;
Research question 1, that is, the types of as-if elements in pretend play; there were types of pretend play, the object of pretending, and the way of pretending. First, the types of pretend play were divided into ‘theatrical pretend play’, ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, and ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’. Second, according to the objects of pretending, as-if elements are divided into ‘pretending to play a role’, ‘pretending play with an object’, and ‘pretending a situation(time/space)’. Third, according to the ways of pretending, pretending elements are divided into ‘self-subjective pretend play’ and ‘projective pretend play’.
Research question 2, that is, the most appearing as-if element in pretend play; among the types of pretend play, the ‘doll dramatic pretend play’ appeared most frequently, then the ‘theatrical pretend play’, and the least appeared was the ‘mix of theatrical and doll dramatic pretend play’. Among the ‘doll dramatic pretend play’, the ‘pretending play with an object’ appeared most frequently, then the ‘pretending to play a role’, and the least appeared was the ‘pretending a situation’.
Research question 3 was analysis of the narratives of the each as-if elements in pretend play. According to the results of this study, the narratives of each as-if elements in pretend play were analyzed by the types, the objects, and the ways.
Pretend play offers the young children interesting experiences, where through pretending and exploring possibilities, a transitional or potential space is created between the child and his environment. Within this space, the child draws on external experiences and unique inner world of the imagination to express capacities for imagination and creativity. Acting ‘as-if’ and posing the question ‘what if’ in multiple ways is at the heart of understanding children’s creativity. Imagining ‘as-if’ and exploring ‘what if I’ or ‘what if we?’ is also an element of transcendence, as children make the transition in thinking, or seeing, something in a new way(Goodliff 2018).
The imaginative narratives created in the pretend play through which children are able to ‘revise and replay the endless possibilities’ from their make-believe images. Pretend play, alone or with others, provides a context for children to explore and reveal who they are and ‘also who they would like to be’(Goodliff 2018).
When joining in children’s pretend play, make sure teachers do not take over the play; rather, consider how teachers can extend the learning within the world the children have already created. The children’s scenario is their own, not the teacher’s. Teachers should not change children’s plans and stop their exploration into their own imagination by giving them teachers idea about the direction of their play. Instead, ask questions that offer a balance between extending children’s existing line of pretend play and inspiring new play (Strasser & Bresson 2017). To support children’s pretend play and learning, teachers and parents are required to observe, to understand their levels of pretending, and to encourage. Children’s pretend play reflect their developmental levels. A child who has just turned 3 years old and is just beginning to understand abstract thinking might hold up a spoon to her ear and pretend it is a cellphone, while a child who is about to turn 5 years old might spend a full hour immersed in a complex imaginary scenario filled with role playing, colorful dialogue, and self-made props. Some children will move in and out of character to provide instruction to other players. Others will have a harder time integrating their friends into already established scenario (Strasser & Bresson 2017).
Asking children thoughtful questions or describing something you notice about their pretend play allows them to think more deeply about the scenario they have created. It also gives them the opportunity to think about the connections they have made as well as make new ones. For example, after observing a child wearing a scarf as group’s pretend play, you might ask, “Where have you seen this type of scarf before? to help the children think about the inspiration behind their play. Or, to encourage math learning, teacher might ask, “I see there are three plates set up at the tables, and you said four baby dolls are coming to your party. How will you make sure each baby has a plate?” (Strasser & Bresson 2017).
Teachers of young children have a great deal of responsibility (Honig 2015). Their roles are to foster and to guide young children’s interest and potential possibilities through play. According to Kostelnik et al. (2007), all play is a delight to the young children engaged in. In fact, pretend play is the hallmark of the early childhood period. Pretend play is the symbolic representation of idea. Children portray their ideas about events by what they do and say and use props to support their scenarios. Therefore, teachers and parents should encourage young children’s as-if elements, their imaginations, and narratives in pretend play. In order to support pretend play, we need to give opportunities of pre-experiences, for example, visiting market for store play, visiting pediatric hospital for doctor and patient pretend play, visiting hair shop for hair shop pretend play for children. And sufficient play time, divergent play materials (Han & Park 2014), for example, open-ended materials, dolls, role play costumes, miniatures, and other materials and safe environment make more enrich pretend play. In addition, teachers’ and parents’ high perceptions about the importance of pretend play are required.
More research is needed into the development of as-if elements and imaginative narratives, the development of the psychological function of imagination, and its role in the development of pretend play (Fleer 2022). Furthermore, the study of meta-communication narratives in pretend play are also needed.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a Research Grant from Andong National University.
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