ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the development of spontaneous fantasy follows continuously on from the development of imaginative play in young children. It presents some typical threads of the development of the imagination through successive age-stages. A paracosm is evidently a convenient and comforting place to escape to. The escape can be from any of a variety of situations. Different cultures, and different times, appear to vary widely in their tolerance of, and general attitudes to, fantasy of all kinds. Christopher and “Chalmers” are self-conscious about their village, and sometimes almost facetious. Analysis in terms of the gender of the child-creator is included. The smallness of groups compelled us to limit ourselves to either/or assessments, seeking to assign ambiguous cases to where they seemed “on balance” to belong. To a particular child, the significance of a private world which lasts a long time may well change in the course of the life of the paracosm.
