The Collaborative Construction of Pretend
Social Pretend Play Functions
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Description
The Collaborative Construction of Pretend explores the origins and development of social pretend play in children. It begins with the infant's first attempts to play pretend with an adult; discusses the beginnings of toddler pretend with peers; and investigates the fully developed social play of preschool and school age children. The author argues that social pretend play can fulfill several different developmental functions and that these functions change with development. Each of these functions are rooted in the individual development of the child and in the social context. Thus the book looks at developmental progressions not only in the forms of social pretend play but in the meaning of the play to the child.
Carollee Howes is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of Peer Interaction in Young Children.
Reviews
"The assumption of different developmental functions of social pretense at different points in ontogeny is a good one; and the elaboration of this thesis is well done. What I liked best about the work is the current information presented and the efforts to link empirical research to theory construction as well as to practice and policy. The authors are to be commended for their efforts to pull together in a meaningful way very current research findings. There are excellent and provocative suggestions on adult conceptions of play hierarchies." — James E. Johnson, The Pennsylvania State University