ABSTRACT
Growing out of using cultural tools and of developing and learning in groups, living in communities and being part of society, young children begin to explore who they are and where they fit in. Much of their exploration for this comes about through their play, which may move from solitary through domestic, into neighbourhood play and school play and beyond to play with rules. In this chapter the focus is initially on the child playing in order to establish who she is and where she sits in relation to her siblings or peers or parents or grandparents or community members. We then move on to look at how children move from private play through to social play as they begin to adopt the roles of others in their world. All of this involves the creation of both roles and rules, and playing with rules is examined.
