Preschoolers’ “Animation” of Computer Games

Abstract

Research on preschool children's computer gaming often focuses on interview data or parental reports, leaving open the examination of children's actual game activity. This study explores how preschool children actually engage in gaming and their degrees of play immersion. Classroom observations of Swedish preschool children's gaming revealed their involvement in computer games took the forms of responding to characters through instructed actions, recycling the game characters' talk, and engaging in dialogues with the game characters as if they were “real.” These results are discussed in relation to previous research on children’s play, and their implications for future research and educational policy.