Abstract
Imagination is considered a highly desired mental function in the 21st century, yet little is known about the emergence of play and imagination in infancy and toddlerhood. This paper reports an educational experiment of We Are Going on a Bear Hunt Conceptual PlayWorlds (CPW) in family settings to explore this under-researched area. Eighteen families with infant-toddlers (18 children 4 to 24 months old, mean age of 10 months) were recruited, with nine families each in the March 2021 and July 2021 rounds. We gathered around 29 h of digitally recorded data through Zoom sessions, 5.5 h of video data collected by families, and 11.5 h of pre and post CPW interviews with families. The data show that with support from adults, infants and toddlers develop their play and imagination, which is reflected through the evolving object-meaning relations regarding how their play and imagination are mediated by material objects and the corresponding roles of objects in play and imagination. Three types of roles of objects in infant-toddlers' play and imagination are reported. It is argued that the roles of objects in play offer new conceptual tools supporting adults in better understanding and supporting infant-toddlers' development of play and imagination.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
