Imaginative play plays an important role in various aspects of child development. Despite, its significance, limited literature is found on ‘how’ imaginative play can contribute to the development of socio-emotional skills in young children. To explore the role of imaginative play, the relationship of imaginative play with emotional regulation, social competence, and theory of mind was investigated. A total of ten studies were thematically reviewed. These papers were selected based on directly investigating the link between imaginative play and any of the three socio-emotional skills. The findings revealed certain specific underlying factors to be involved in the development of these skills, for example, executive functioning, gender roles, cognitive and emotional mechanisms, empathy, and language. These mechanisms partly succeeded in explaining the relationship of imaginative play with socio-emotional skills, there is still no concrete evidence between the two factors. This study aims to highlight the significance of imaginative play to create more awareness in educators and primary caregivers for a comprehensive understanding, availability, and nurture towards young children.
The full text of these resource are only available to Oxford Brookes staff and students. Please login to RADAR if you are a student or member of staff
Jamil, Faseeha
Rights Holders: Jamil, Faseeha Supervisors: Pratt, Victoria
School of Education
MA Education
2021
© Jamil, Faseeha Published by Oxford Brookes UniversityAll rights reserved