ABSTRACT
The research on children's symbolic play has relied almost exclusively on adults' (parents, teachers, researchers) interpretations of children's play. The purpose of the study is to expand understanding of symbolic play through the eyes and words of children. The parents and teachers were subsequently interviewed to gain further insight into the children's symbolic play. The interview questions were based on developmental aspects of symbolic play found in the literature. The elements of pretend play include themes, roles, object substitutions, and differentiation between fantasy and reality. The segments were representative of the important structural properties of symbolic play identified in the research literature on play: enacting a theme, taking on a role, or making an object substitution. The interview questions used in the semi-structured interviews were drawn from the research literature and theories on symbolic play and were designed to uncover children's thoughts on themes' roles, object substitutions, and reality/fantasy.
