Humans are the only species that engages in sustained, complex pretend play. As pretend
play is practically ubiquitous across cultures, it might support or afford a context for …

Background and aims Play is used by practitioners from across disciplinary backgrounds as
a natural and enjoyable context for providing intervention and support in early childhood. In …

This study examines how children express themselves in play situations that occur in early
childhood education and care (ECEC) settings in the context of their emotional and social …

Most research on children's play takes a context‐dependent, adult‐focused observational
approach to the measurement of play. The current two studies present the development and …

Humor is a central feature of close and intimate relationships in childhood. However,
fundamental questions regarding the relationship between humor production, pretend play …

Being able to navigate the social world successfully and to build and maintain positive social
relationships is key to children's current and later adjustment (Lecce et al., 2017a; Davis et …

Although play results in physical, social, and cognitive benefits, there is a consensus that
children's opportunities to play have been reduced, particularly for those who live in urban …

The purpose of this paper is to offer a new coding system to capture preschool playful
behaviours based on the imitative, exploratory and imaginative aspects underlying playful …

Effective reciprocal communication is a vital component in forming and maintaining social
relationships. Peer social play may provide a particularly important context for …

This chapter reviews research on social play, focusing primarily on work since 2008 and the
review by Power. It examines the kinds of social play seen in childhood: rough‐and‐tumble …