Children's Play Activity through the Paradigm of Sociological Imagination

Abstract

In this paper, based on the oral presentation at the 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association 2015, 25.8-28.8 (Prague, Czech Republic), I argue the children’s play activity can be considered through the paradigm of sociological imagination. This fact gives us the opportunity to understand the sociological significance of children’s play because this activity of children is the route into understanding the complex relationship between everyday lives of children and a broad sociocultural context. A simple play or a structured game with rules is closely tied to historical circumstances, contains a power relationship and the preparation of the child for the future life. At the same time, the children’s play is produced by children. The play activity has a lot of variations, which throw light on the behaviour and the aspirations of children. These facts give us an opportunity to understand, what we can expect from the modern children. The methods of the research include visually narratives approach, the analysis of art and historical literature.