Play and Early Literacy: An Analysis of Kindergarten Children's Scaffolding During Symbolic Play Transformations

Abstract

This study analyzes the scaffolding of symbolic transformations by kindergarten children during socio-dramatic play.  Fifteen hours of free play at a home center were videotaped.  The symbolic transformations were identified and coded by type and social context from detailed transcripts.  The results of this study suggest that play environments, such as the home center, provide a collaborative social context that facilitates the engagement of children in simple to complex symbolic play transformations, highlighting the importance of informal, social play contexts for enhancing symbolic play transformations as a precursor to literacy development.