This study examined children's pretense themes, self-other relations, decontextualization of pretend play in block, manipulative, and dramatic play areas. The subjects were 203 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds who were enrolled in 7 kindergarten classrooms loc...
This study examined children's pretense themes, self-other relations, decontextualization of pretend play in block, manipulative, and dramatic play areas. The subjects were 203 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds who were enrolled in 7 kindergarten classrooms located in Seoul, Korea. Children's pretend play was observed using the target child focused observation. Data were analyzed in terms of the levels of themes, self-other relations, decontextualization. In addition, the content of theme in pretend play were analyzed. The results showed that the older children performed higher levels of pretend play more frequently than the younger children. There were differences in pretense themes, self-other relations, decontextualization between gender and among play areas.